
(lass. 



Book 



YUDIN COLLECTION 



THE 

TRAGEDY 

OF 

HAMLET 
Prince of Denmarkc. 

BY 

William Shakespeare. 

Newly imprinted and enlarged to almoft as much 

againe as itwas,accordingto the true 

and perfect Coppy. 




AT LONDON, 

Panted for John SmetbwickSs andate to be fold at his 0iOppe 
in Saint Danftons Church ycard in Flcccftrest* 
Vndej; thel)iall t t^i t« 



Facsimile, Title-Page, Fourth Quarto 



-Jodionof/ 




THE TRAGEDY OP 
HAMLET 



MS. 




INTRODUCTTONAbD NOTES BY 

HENRYNORMAN 
HUDSON,LI;D ^ 

EDITED AND REVISED BY 
EBENEZER CHARITON 
BLACK LLD- (GLASGOW) 

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PREFACE 

The text of this edition of Hamlet is based upon a col- 
lation of the Second Quarto (the Quarto of 1604), the 
seventeenth century Folios, the Globe edition, the Cam- 
bridge (W. A. Wright) edition of 1891, and the editions of 
Delius (1882) and of Furness. As compared with the text 
of the earlier editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, it is con- 
servative. Exclusive of changes in spelling, punctuation, 
and stage directions, very few emendations by eighteenth 
century and nineteenth century editors have been adopted ; 
and these, with every variation from the First Folio, are 
indicated in the textual notes. These notes are printed 
immediately below the text, so that a reader or student may 
see at a glance the evidence in the case of a disputed read- 
ing, and have some definite understanding of the reasons for 
those differences in the text of Shakespeare which frequently 
surprise and very often annoy. Such an arrangement should 
be of special help in the case of a play universally read and 
very often acted, as no two actors or interpreters agree in 
adhering to one text. A consideration of the more poetical, 
or the more dramatically effective, of two variant readings 
will often lead to rich results in awakening a spirit of dis- 
criminating interpretation and in developing true creative 
criticism. In no sense is this a textual variorum edition. 
The variants given are only those of importance and high 
authority. 



iv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

The spelling and the punctuation of the text are mod- 
ern, except in the case of verb terminations in -ed, which, 
when the e is silent, are printed with the apostrophe in its 
place. This is the general usage in the First Folio. The im- 
portant contractions in the First Folio which may indicate 
Elizabethan pronunciation ('i' th' ' for 'in the,' for example) 
are also followed. Modern spelling has to a certain extent 
been adopted in the text variants; but the original spelling 
has been retained wherever its peculiarities have been the 
basis for important textual criticism and emendation. 

With the exception of the position of the textual vari- 
ants, the plan of this edition is similar to that of the old 
Hudson Shakespeare. It is impossible to specify the vari- 
ous instances of revision and rearrangement in the matter 
of the Introduction and the interpretative notes, but the 
endeavor has been to retain all that gave the old edition 
its unique place and to add the results of what seems vital 
and permanent in later inquiry and research. 

While it is important that the principle of suum cuique 
be attended to so far as is possible in matters of research 
and scholarship, it is becoming more and more difficult to 
give every man his own in Shakespearian annotation. The 
amount of material accumulated is so great that the identity- 
origin of much important comment and suggestion is either 
wholly lost or so crushed out of shape as to be beyond 
recognition. Instructive significance perhaps attaches to 
this in editing the works of one who quietly made so much 
of materials gathered by others. But the list of authorities 
given on page lxxxiii will indicate the chief source of much 
that has gone to enrich the value of this edition. Espe- 
cial acknowledgment is here made of the obligations to 



PREFACE v 

Dr. William Aldis Wright and Dr. Horace Howard Furness, 
whose work in the collation of Quartos, Folios, and the 
more important English and American editions of Shake- 
speare has been of so great value to all subsequent editors 
and investigators. 

With regard to the general plan of this revision of Hud- 
son's Shakespeare, Professor W. P. Trent, of Columbia Uni- 
versity, has offered valuable suggestions and given important 
advice ; and to Mr. M. Grant Daniell's patience, accuracy, 
and judgment this volume owes both its freedom from many 
a blunder and its possession of a carefully arranged index. 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION 

Page 

I. Sources xi 

The Name 'Hamlet' xi 

The Annals of Ireland xi 

Snorri's Prose Edda xii 

The Main Story xii 

Saxo's Historia Danica xii 

Hans Sachs's Version xiv 

Bellefo rest's Histoires Tragi ques .... xiv 

A Lost Play xv 

Der Bestrafte Brudermord xv 

Polonius's Precepts, I, iii, 59-80 ...... xvi 

"^Eneas' Tale to Dido," II, ii, 434, 438-505 . . xvii 

" Guilty Creatures sitting at a Play," II, ii, 576 xix 

Hamlet's Soliloquy, III, i, 56-88 ..... xx 

Names of Persons and Places xx 

Shakespeare and Montaigne xxii 

II. Date of Composition xxiii 

External Evidence xxiii 

Negative xxiii 

Positive xxiv 

Internal Evidence xxv 

Julius Caesar and Hamlet xxv 

Allusion to the Players ....... xxv 

Style and Diction xxv 

vii 



viii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Page 

III. Early Editions xxvi 

Quartos xxvi 

First and Second Quartos xxvi 

Later Quartos xxx 

Folios xxxi 

Rowe's Editions xxxi 

IV. Versification and Diction xxxii 

Blank Verse xxxii 

Alexandrines xxxiv 

Rhyme xxxiv 

Couplets xxxiv 

' Mouse-trap ' Couplets xxxv 

Song Snatches xxxv 

Prose xxxvi 

V. Scene of Action xxxviii 

VI. Duration of Action xxxviii 

VII. Dramatic Construction and Development . . xxxix 
Analysis by Act and Scene xl 

VIII. The Characters xliv 

Hamlet xliv 

Hamlet's Sanity xlvi 

Did Hamlet Procrastinate? xlvii 

Subjective Theories xlvii 

Goethe xlviii 

Schlegel xlviii 

Coleridge xlix 

Ulrici 1 

Objective Theories li 

Ziegler li 

Klein li 

Werder Hi 

General Discussion liii 

Hamlet and his Mother lxiii 

Accomplishment of the Revenge . . . lxiv 



CONTENTS ix 

Page 

Hamlet's Self-Criticism lxv 

Pathos of Hamlet's Situation .... lxvi 

The Grave-digging Scene lxvii 

Laertes lxvii 

Claudius lxviii 

The Ghost lxix 

Horatio lxx 

Polonius - lxx 

Ophelia lxxii 

Gertrude lxxiii 

IX. General Characteristics lxxiv 

X. Stage History lxxv 

The Seventeenth Century lxxv 

The Eighteenth Century lxxviii 

The Nineteenth Century lxxxi 

Authorities (with Abbreviations) lxxxiii 

Chronological Chart lxxxiv 

Distribution of Characters lxxxviii 

THE TEXT 

Act I 3 

Act II 61 

Act III 102 

Act IV 152 

Act V • . 188 

Index of Words and Phrases 227 

FACSIMILES 

Title-Page, Fourth Quarto Frontispiece 

Title-Page, First Quarto xxvii 

Title-Page, Second Quarto xxviii 



INTRODUCTION 

Note. In citations from Shakespeare's plays and nondramatic 
poems the numbering has reference to the Globe edition, except in 
the case of this play, where the reference is to this edition. 

I. SOURCES 

The beginnings of the legend of Hamlet link a Scandi- 
navian folk-tale, probably in its genesis a nature-myth, with 
Ireland ; and the two most potent names in the imaginative 
literature of the English-speaking world, Arthur and Hamlet, 
unite the two great racial strains of the English people, the 
Celtic and the Teutonic. 

The Name ' Hamlet ' 1 

i . The Annals of Ireland. In The Annals of Ireland by 
the Four Masters? under the year 917, is an account of the 
battle of Ath-Cliath, " concerning which," says the historian, 
" several songs were made, of which the burden of one was, 
1 Where is the chief of the western world V" Then is quoted 
this fragment from the lament of Queen Gormnaith : 

111 for me the compliment of the two foreigners, 
Who slew Niall and Cearbhall ; 
Cearbhall was slain by Ulf, a mighty deed ; 
Niall Glundubh by Amhlaide. 

1 " No one knows the origin of this name." — Vigfusson. 

2 Complete references, with philological notes, will be found in 
the Introduction to Gollancz's Hamlet in Iceland (Ambales Saga), 
from which are taken the translations given here. 

xi 



xii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

"The last word, 'Amhlaide,' " says Gollancz, "is certainly 
the Irish form of ' AmloSi ' or Hamlet." 

2. SnorrVs Prose Edda. Three centuries later, in Snorri 
Sturlason's The Prose Edda, is the mysterious fragment from 
Snaebjorn, " Far out, off yonder ness, the Nine Maids of 
the Island Mill stir amain the host-cruel skerry-quern — they 
who in ages past ground Hamlet's meal." Here the hero of 
the Irish battlefield seems to be conceived as a world influ- 
ence, in league with sea and with land, at the heart of 
storms and shipwrecks, a force that destroys, and as it 
destroys, shapes anew. 

The Main Story 

i. Saxo 's Historic/, Danica. From myths, legends, and tra- 
ditions, of which a glimpse may be , caught in these earliest 
known references to Hamlet given above, Saxo Grammat- 
icus (Saxo the ' Grammarian ' or ' Scholar '), about the begin- 
ning of the thirteenth century, framed the outline of the 
Hamlet story as it is found in modern literature. Saxo set 
himself to tell in Latin the history of his country, and in the 
third and fourth books of his Historia Danica ( Gesta Dano- 
rum) 1 is given the story of Amlethus or Hamlet. With the 
old matter of the North, Saxo here inweaves elements from 
legendary Roman history, notably from the story of Lucius 
Junius Brutus. In Saxo's story Horwendil, 2 father of Hamlet, 

1 Saxonis Grammatici Danorum Historiae, first printed in Paris, 
1 514. Modern editions, with scholarly apparatus, are those of Miiller 
and Velschow, Copenhagen, 1839-1858, and of Holder, Strasburg, 
1886. Nine books have been translated into English by Oliver Elton, 
with a valuable Introduction by York Powell. 

2 This name has been identified with the Scandinavian Orvandill, 
the German Orendel, the English Earendel, "whose myth was 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

is murdered by his brother Feng (Fengo, Fengon), who 
marries Gerutha (Grytha). Hamlet's mother. Plotting re- 
venge, Hamlet feigns madness or ' folly.' A girl is thrown 
in his way that his true state of mind may be found out. 
During an interview with his mother, Hamlet kills an eaves- 
dropper. His uncle sends him to England with two compan- 
ions who bear a letter to the English king requesting that 
Hamlet be put to death. Hamlet alters the letter, and his 
companions are put to death. Hamlet returns, slays his uncle, 
makes an oration to the people, 1 and ascends the throne. In 
the end he is betrayed to his death by a faithless wife, the 
'Amazon' Hermutrude (Hermtrude, Hermentrude). 2 Saxo 
closes the first part of his Hamlet story with the following 
words, 3 which strangely adumbrate something of the problem 
and the mystery of Shakespeare's play : 

valiant Amleth, and worthy of immortal fame, who being 
shrewdly armed with a feint of folly, covered a wisdom too high for 
human wit under a marvellous disguise of silliness ! and not only 
found in his subtlety means to protect his own safety, but also by 

Christianized by Germanic Europe, and whose star was glorified as 
'the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the 
world.' " — Gollancz. 

1 In this oration Gollancz finds a source for Brutus's speech, 
Jzclius Ccesar, III, ii. 

2 In Saxo's Hamlet narrative some scholars find two distinct 
strata of legendary lore, the hero of the third book being identified 
with Olaf Kyrre, the Anlaf Cwiran of the Saxon Chronicle and the 
Amlaf Cuaran of the Irish Annals, best known to modern readers 
as * Havelok the Dane,' while the hero of the fourth book is iden- 
tical with the Hygelac of Beowulf. See Latham's Dissertation on 
Hamlet, Zinzow's Die Hamletsage, Moltke's Shakespeares Hamlet- 
Quellen, and Simrock's Die Quellen des Shakespeare. 

3 As given in Elton's translation. 



xiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

its guidance found opportunity to avenge his father. By this skilful 
defence of himself, and strenuous revenge for his parent, he has left 
it doubtful whether we are to think more of his wit or his bravery. 

2. Hans Sachs's Version. In the fourteenth and the fif- 
teenth century the Hamlet story became widely known in 
Europe, and in 1558 Hans Sachs gave a version of it in 
homely German verse. Sachs's work has been much ridi- 
culed, but it certainly showed the capability of the story for 
popular poetic treatment, and it marks the beginning of liter- 
ary interest in Hamlet on German soil. In Shakespeare's Puck 
Dr. Bell made an extraordinary plea for the English Hamlet 
having its true genesis in Hans Sachs's poem. 

3. Belief oresf s Histoires Tragiques. A free translation of 
Saxo's Hamlet narrative into French prose was made by 
Belleforest (Francois de Belle-Forest Comingeois) and pub- 
lished in 1570 in the fifth book of the Histoires Tragiques} 
Here the possibilities of the story for dramatic and psycho- 
logical treatment are further developed. Several editions of 
the Histoires Tragiques appeared in France before 1600, but 
so far as is known there was no English version until 1608, 
when Thomas Pavier, probably influenced by the popularity 
of Shakespeare's play, published the Hamlet portion of Belle- 
forest's work under the title of The Hystorie of Hamblet? 

1 Elsewhere in the Histoires Tragiques is an interesting version 
of the story of Much Ado About Nothing taken from the Italian 
novelle of Bandello. 

2 It is given in full in Collier's Shakespeare 's Library and in Fur- 
ness's Variorum Hamlet, Vol. II. It shows in more than one place 
the influence of Shakespeare. For example, as Elze pointed out, 
Hamlet's exclamation before he kills the eavesdropper, " A rat ! a 
rat ! " is in the English version, but there is no suggestion of it in 
the French original. 



INTRODUCTION XV 

4. A Lost Flay. It was probably through Belleforest's 
version that the story of Hamlet reached the English stage. 
In 1589 an English drama on the subject seems to have been 
in existence, for in that year there is a pointed reference to 
such a play in a letter addressed by Thomas Nash " to the 
Gentlemen Students of both Vniuersities,"" and prefixed to 
Greene's Menaphon. In 1594, under the date June 9, Hen- 
slowe records in his Diary, " Rd at hamlet . . . viijs.," and 
his entry shows that it was not a new play. Cumulative evi- 
dence points to this lost play (the Ur-Hamlet of German 
investigators) being Senecan, a tragedy of blood and revenge, 
with a ghost in it, a play within a play, a marked tendency 
to moralizing and soliloquy, and that it was probably by 
Thomas Kyd, the author of The Spanish Tragedie, a play 
marked by these characteristics. That Shakespeare was 
profoundly influenced by such a play in the structural part 
of Hamlet there can be no doubt, and modern students find 
the explanation of many difficulties, inconsistencies, and dis- 
crepancies, as, for example, in V, i, 154 (see note), in the 
inevitable clashing between the stage tradition with its frame- 
work of the old blood-and-revenge drama and the rich intellec- 
tual and emotional character of the central figure as conceived 
by the mature Shakespeare. 

5. Der Bestrafte Brudermord. In 1781 was printed, from 
a manuscript dated 1710, a German version of Hamlet in 
prose, entitled Der Bestrafte Brudermord oder Prinz Hamlet 
aus Daennemark (' Fratricide Punished, or Prince Hamlet of 
Denmark '). 1 Investigation has established that this is an act- 
ing version probably used by English actors in Germany in 

1 An English translation is given in Furness's Variorum. 



xvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

the early years of the seventeenth century. 1 The two inter- 
esting facts, (i) that Polonius is here represented by Coram- 
bus (cf. ' Corambis ? in the First Quarto), and (2) that the 
play proper is preceded by a Senecan prologue, have led 
some students to conclude that this is a German version of 
the lost Hamlet. Gollancz thinks that the chief merit of " this 
soulless and coarse production " is that the prologue may rep- 
resent a fragment of the pre-Shakespearian play. Dowden 
regards the German play as " a debased adaptation of Shake- 
speare's Hamlet in its earliest form." Sachs's so-called dog- 
gerel verse and this " soulless " and " debased " version give 
little promise of the illuminating Hamlet literature that Ger- 
many was destined to give the world. 

Polonius's Precepts, I, iii, 59-80 

In Shakespeare's Euphuism, W. L. Rushton places side 
by side the precepts of Polonius to Laertes 2 and those of 
Euphues to Philautus {Euphues and his England, page 430, 
Arber's edition). Both Polonius and Euphues speak of the 
advice given as "these few precepts." Very similar, too, 
are the counsels given to Philador by his father in Greene's 
Menaphon, and the advice of Clerophontes to his son Gwy- 
donius in Greene's Carde of Fancie. French, in his Shake- 
speareana Genealogica, also points out parallels to several 
of Polonius's precepts in Lord Burghley's "ten precepts" 
addressed to his son Robert Cecil when the young man 
was setting out on his travels. French quotes these paral- 
lels as a link in his chain of evidence that prominent men 

1 See A. Cohn, Shakespeare in Germany. 

2 Beyersdorff, Giordano Bruno und Shakespeare, traces these pre- 
cepts and much else in Hamlet to Bruno. 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

and women of the Elizabethan age are represented in the 
characters of this play, Lord Burghley being identified with 
Polonius, and Sir Philip Sidney with Hamlet. 1 

"Eneas' Tale to Dido," II, ii, 434; 437-505 

The ultimate source for the speeches in the play, which 
was " caviare to the general," is the second book of the 
j#Lneid, but Shakespeare undoubtedly had in mind the fol- 
lowing passages from the first scene of the second act of 
Dido, Queen of Carthage (see note, II, ii, 434): 

^Eneas. At last came Pirrhus, fell and full of ire, 
His harnesse dropping bloud, and on his speare 
The mangled head of Priams yongest sonne, 
And, after him, his band of Mirmidons, 
With balles of wilde fire in their murdering pawes, 
Which made the funerall flame that burnt faire Troy, 
All which hemd me about, crying, This is he ! 

Dido. Ah, how could poore ^Eneas scape their hands ? 

^Eneas. My mother Venus, iealous of my health, 
Convaid me from their crooked nets and bands ; 
So I escapt the furious Pirrhus wrath : 
Who then ran to the pallace of the King, 
And at Ioues altar finding Priamus, 
About whose witherd neck hung Hecuba, 
Foulding his hand in hers, and joyntly both 
Beating their breasts, and falling on the ground, 
He, with his faulchions poynt raisde vp at once r 

1 Among other studies in the historical-allegorical significance of 
the play may be mentioned Conrad's claim (Pretissische Jahrbucher* 
1895) that Hamlet was intended for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, 
and Plumptre's Observations on Hamlet (1796), in which is a well- 
sustained attempt to prove that Shakespeare designed the play " as 
an indirect censure on Mary, Queen of Scots." See Silberschlag's 
Shakespeares Hamlet, seine Quellen und politischen Beziehungen. 



xviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

And with Megaras eyes stared in their face, 
Threatning a thousand deaths at euery glaunce : 
To whom the aged King thus trembling spoke ; 
' Achilles sonne, remember what I was, 
Father of fifty sonnes, but they are slaine ; 
Lord of my fortune, but my fortune 's turnd : 
King of this citie, but my Troy is fired ; 
And now am neither father, Lor.de, nor King : 
Yet who so wretched but desires to liue ? 
O, let me liue, greate Neoptolemus ! ' 
Not mou'd at all, but smiling at his teares, 
This butcher, whilst his hands were yet held vp, 
Treading vpon his breast, strooke off his handes. 
Dido. O, end, JEneas ! I can heare no more. 
^Eneas. At which the franticke Queene leapt on his face, 
And in his eyelids hanging by the nayles 
A little while prolong'd her husband's life : 
At last, the souldiers puld her by the heeles, 
And swong her howling in the emptie ayre 
Which sent an eccho to the wounded King : 
Whereat he lifted up his bedred lims 
And would have grappeld with Achilles sonne, 
Eorgetting both his want of strength and hands ; 
Which he disdaining, whiskt his sword about, 
And with the wind thereof the King fell downe ; 
Then from the nauell to the throat at once 
He ript old Priam ; at whose latter gaspe 
Ioues marble statue gan to bend the brow, 
As lothing Pirrhus for this wicked act. 
Yet he, vndaunted, took his father's flag, 
And dipt it in the old King's chill colde bloud, 
And then in triumph ran into the streetes 
Through which he could not passe for slaughtred men ; 
So, leaning on his sword, he stood stone still, 
Viewing the fire wherewith rich Ilion burnt. 
******** 
Anna. O, what became of aged Hecuba ? 



INTRODUCTION xix 

" Guilty Creatures sitting at a Play," II, ii, 576 

In Plutarch's Life of Pelopidas it is told that Alexander, 
the tyrant of Pherse, left the theatre during the performance 
of the Troades of Euripides, because he was ashamed that 
the citizens should see him, who never pitied any man whom 
he had murdered, weeping over the sufferings of Hecuba and 
Andromache (cf. II, ii, 544-545). 1 In the play, A Warning 
for Faire Women, acted in 1599, but probably acted much 
earlier, being founded upon an actual occurrence in 1573, is 
the following passage : 

lie tell you, sir, one more to quite your tale. 
A woman that had made away her husband, 
And sitting to behold a tragedy 
At Linne a towne in Norffolke, 
Acted by players travelling that way, 
Wherein a woman that had murtherd hers 
Was ever haunted with her husbands ghost : 
The passion written by a feeling pen, 
And acted by a good tragedian, 
She was so mooved with the sight thereof, 
As she cryed out, the play was made by her 
And openly confesst her husbands murder. 

There is a similar passage in the first scene of the second act 
of Massinger's The Roman Actor ; but in date of composi- 
tion this play, in which the device of a scene within a scene 2 
is repeated thrice, is at least twenty years later than Shake- 
speare's Hamlet. 

1 A. W. Ward, on the authority of Muret, VHistoire surle Thiatre, 
notes that a performance of Les Etats de Blois, at St. Cloud, unpleas- 
antly reminded Napoleon of the murder of the Due d'Enghien. 

2 " A curious parallel ... is mentioned by Ste. Beuve, Port-Royal, 
ed. 1867, vol. I, pp. 147 seqq." — Ward. 



XX THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Hamlet's Soliloquy, III, i, 56-88 

For lines and expressions in Hamlet's soliloquy, " To be, 
or not to be . . . " many interesting source-hints or parallels 
have been suggested. To Montaigne has been traced " a 
consummation Devoutly to be wish'd," x lines 63-64 ; to 
Catullus and to Seneca, " No traveller returns," line 80 ; 
and to Cardanus's Comforte, 1576, "To die, — to sleep, — 
To sleep ! perchance to dream ! " lines 64-65. Of all these 
parallels, or sources, perhaps the most remarkable is that 
which connects " The undiscover'd country," line 79, with a 
passage in Marlowe's Edward the Second. As young Mor- 
timer goes to his doom, he takes leave of Queen Isabella in 
these words : 

Farewell, fair queen ; weep not for Mortimer, 

That scorns the world, and, as a traveller, 

Goes to discover countries yet unknown. [V, vi, 64-66.] 

Names of Persons and Places 

If the sources of the main story of Hamlet are Teutonic, 
Celtic, and Latin, the names of the dramatis personae are 
from origins equally varied and cosmopolitan. ' Gertrude ' 
is undoubtedly Saxo's ' Gerutha.' ' Ophelia,' 2 in the form 
' Ofelia,' is the name of a shepherd in Jacopo Sannazaro's 
Arcadia, the work which so profoundly influenced the devel- 
opment of pastoral literature in the sixteenth century. In 

1 The same idea occurs in Plato's Apology. 

2 " Ophelia, serviceableness, the true lost wife of Hamlet, is marked 
as having a Greek name by that of her brother, Laertes ; and its sig- 
nification is once exquisitely alluded to in that brother's last word of 
her, where her gentle preciousness is opposed to the uselessness of 
the churlish clergy." — Ruskin, Munera Pulveris. 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

the Arcadia also occurs ' Montano,' the name given to Rey- 
naldo in the First Quarto. ' Reynaldo ' is from Lyly's Eu- 
fihues. ' Laertes ' in Greek legend is the father of Ulysses. 
1 Polonius,' Walker suggests, is a corruption of Apollonius- 
" ' Fortinbras ' is evidently Fortebras, or Strong-arm, of the 
family of Ferumbras of the romances, or may have come 
directly from Niccolo Fortebraccio, the famous leader of the 
condottieri" x The sturdy Roman name ' Horatio ' is that of 
Andrea's faithful friend, the son of Hieronimo, in The Spanish 
Tragedy and The First Part of/eronimo, — " Horatio murdered 
in his father's bower." For ' Rosencrantz ' and ' Guildenstern ' 
see note, II, ii, i . It is an interesting fact that, under the date 
1577, on the same page of a German album preserved in the 
Royal Public Library at Stuttgart, are the autograph signa- 
tures : ' Jorgen Rossenkrantz,' ' P. Guldenstern.' This album 
belonged originally to one who had spent some years in Copen- 
hagen, and these signatures are of colleagues who had sat in 
the Danish Council of Regency during the minority of Chris- 
tian IV. 2 ' Osric ' 3 may be from a non-extant play, Marshal 
Osricke, written by T. Heywood in conjunction with Went- 
worth Smith and produced on the stage in 1602. "The 
names given to the ambassador, Voltemar, Voltemand, Valte- 
mand, Voltumand? are so many corruptions of the Danish 
Valdemar." — Brandes. Brandes, naturally an enthusiast for 
everything Danish connected with the play, has the following 
interesting notes as to how Shakespeare may have secured 

1 Elliot Browne, The Athencetim, July 26, 1876. 

2 Shakespeare Jahrbuch, XXV. 

3 For ' Osric ' the First Quarto has ' a Bragart Gentleman.' 

4 These varied spellings are from Quartos and Folios. See textual 
notes, I, ii, 25 ; II, ii, 58. 



xxii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

what he regards as intimate knowledge of localities and traits 
of manners : - 1 

Hamlet being a Dane and his destiny being acted out in distant 
Denmark — a name not yet so familiar in England as it was soon to 
be, when, with the new king, a Danish princess came to the throne 
— Shakespeare would naturally seize whatever opportunities lay in 
his way of gathering intelligence as to the manners and customs of 
this little-known country. — In the year 1585 a troupe of English 
players had appeared in the courtyard of the Town-Hall of Elsinore. 
If we are justified in assuming this troupe to have been the same 
which we find in the following year established at the Danish Court, 
it numbered among its members three persons who, at the time 
when Shakespeare was turning over in his mind the idea of Ham- 
let, belonged to his company of actors . . . Other English actors . . . 
under the management of Thomas Sackville, had performed at 
Copenhagen in 1596 at the coronation of Christian IV. ... It is 
in consequence of what he had learned from his comrades that 
Shakespeare has transferred the action of Hamlet from Jutland to 
Elsinore, which they had visited and no doubt described to him. 
That is how he comes to know of the Castle at Elsinore (finished 
about a score of years earlier), though he does not mention the 
name of Kronborg. 

Shakespeare and Montaigne 

That Shakespeare was a reader of Montaigne cannot be 
doubted by any one who compares the description of Gon- 
zalo's ideal commonwealth in The Tempest with the almost 
identical description given by Montaigne. Hamlet has been 
found by some investigators to be saturated with Montaigne, 
and Jacob Feis 2 argues ingeniously that Hamlet is to be identi- 
fied with Montaigne and that the play was written to discredit 

1 William Shakespeare, a Critical Stttdy, Book II, Chapter XII. 

2 Shakespeare and Montaigne : an Endeavour to explain the Tend- 
ency of Hamlet from allusions in contemporary works. 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

Montaigne's opinions. Herr Stedefeld similarly insists x that. 
Hamlet was written in the interests of practical Christianity 
as against the scepticism and cosmopolitanism of the French 
essayist. John M. Robertson 2 has brought together a large 
number of passages to show how deeply and widely Mon- 
taigne influenced Shakespeare, a view held to a great extent 
by Brandes. " It may be said at once that of all the parallel 
passages adduced there is not one, except that from The Tem- 
pest, which may not resolve itself into a mere coincidence." — 
Churton Collins. 3 In France the contention that Montaigne's 
influence upon Shakespeare was profound and far-reaching 
has been warmly supported, M. Philarete Chasles 4 attributing 
to this the most striking characteristics of all Shakespeare's 
later and greater plays. 

II. DATE OF COMPOSITION . 

The date of composition of the first draft of Hamlet falls 
within July, 1602, the later time limit {terminus ante quern), 
and 1598, the earlier time limit {terminus post quern). The 
weight of evidence is in favor of 1601-1602. The second 
draft, represented in the Second Quarto, was made prob- 
ably in 1 603-1 604. 

External Evidence 

1. Negative. Hamlet is not mentioned by Meres in the 
Palladis Tamia, published in 1598, which gives a list of 

1 Hamlet : ein Tendenzdrama. 

2 Montaigne and Shakspere. 

8 Studies in Shakespeare : Shakespeare and Montaigne. 
4 L? Angleterre au Seizieme Siecle. 



xxiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

twelve noteworthy Shakespeare plays in existence at that 
time. This establishes 1 598 as a probable terminus post quern. 
2. Positive. (1) The Stationers' Registers. The earliest 
unmistakable reference to Shakespeare's play is the follow- 
ing entry in The Stationers 1 Registers} under the date 1602 ; 

xxvj to Julij 
James Robertes Entred for his Copie vnder the handes of mas- 
ter PASFEILD and master waterson warden A 
booke called ' the Revenge of HAMLETT P?'ince 
\pf~\ Denmarke ' as y ( was latelie Acted by the Lord 
Chamberleyne his setvantes. . . . vjd 2 

Though Shakespeare's name does not appear in this entry, 
it is well known that he was one of the Lord Chamberlain's 
Men up to the time of James's succession in May, 1603 (see 
note, II, ii, 330-354), and the reference to 'A booke' in 
connection with this company of actors identifies ' the Revenge 
of Hamlett Prince \of~\ De?imarke' with his play. 

(2) The First Quarto. The Hamlet referred to in The 
Stationers' Registers was published in 1603, in quarto and 
with Shakespeare's name on the title-page. This is the now 
much discussed First Quarto, which probably represents in 
imperfect form the first draft of the play. (See below, Early 
Editions.) 

(3) The Second Quarto. In 1604 the Second Quarto was 
published, " enlarged to almost as much againe as it was, 
according to the true and perfect Coppie." (See below, 
Early Editions.) This gives the play in what is virtually its 
final form. 

1 Professor E. Arber's Transcripts of the Stationers'' Registers (1554- 
1640), 4 vols., 1875-1877. 

2 sixpence. This was the usual price of a Quarto. 



INTRODUCTION xxv 

Internal Evidence 

i . Julius Ccesar and Hamlet. There is interesting cumu- 
lative evidence that the composition of Hamlet is in time 
immediately after that of Julius Ccesar in 1600- 1601, the 
date generally agreed upon. This evidence includes fore- 
shadowings of Hamlet everywhere in Julius Ccesar, the fre- 
quent references to Caesar in Hamlet, the kinship in character 
of Brutus and Hamlet, the treatment of the supernatural, 
and the development of the revenge motive. 

2. Allusion to the Players. In 1601 the members of the 
Lord Chamberlain's company seem to have been in dis- 
grace at court on account of the production of Richard II 
on the eve of the Essex rebellion. They were not invited that 
year to take part in the court festivities at Christmas. While 
there is no direct evidence that in consequence of lack of 
court patronage the members of the company went on tour 
in the provinces, it is extremely probable that they did so, 
and there may be a 'topical' allusion to this in II, ii, 323. 
What is certain is that between 1600 and 1601 children 
companies, especially the ' Children of the Chapel,' acting at 
the Blackfriars Theatre in Ben Jonson's Cynthia 's Revels, 
The Poetaster, etc., which plays were involved in the 'war of 
the theatres ' (see note, II, ii, 348), had become formidable 
rivals to the regular actors. In the First Quarto this is the 
reason assigned for the " travelling." In the Second Quarto 
this passage is omitted (see note, II, ii, 330-354). 

3. Style and Diction. The diction of Hamlet, the quality 
of the blank verse, the character of the prose, the propor- 
tion of prose to verse (see below, Versification and Diction), 
and the application of the various verse and diction 



xxvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

tests 1 strengthen the case for the date given by the external 
and the internal evidence. The rich, full thought of the 
speeches and soliloquies in the Second Quarto, and the way 
in which all that is incidental and circumstantial is made 
subordinate to the living energies of mind and soul, justify 
placing the composition of the revised play as near as 
possible to 1604. 

III. EARLY EDITIONS 

Quartos 

1 . The First and the Second Quarto. Reproduced on the 
following pages are the title-pages of the First Quarto (Q x ) 
and the Second Quarto (Q 2 ). To a certain extent these 
title-pages tell their own tale, that of the Second Quarto 
indicating clearly the imperfect and unauthorized character 
of the First Quarto. The relation of these two editions to 
each other has involved as much dispute as the character of 
Hamlet himself. The First Quarto is only about half the 
length of the Second Quarto ; the text 2 is mutilated and 
corrupt ; Corambis and Montano represent Polonius and 
Reynaldo respectively ; Francisco is " first Centinel " ; a 
Duke and a Duchess are the chief characters in the "Mouse- 
trap" play (see note, III, ii, 219-220) ; the Queen is repre- 
sented as concerting and actively cooperating with Hamlet 
against the King's life, and she has an interview of considerable 

1 There is an excellent summary of these tests in Dowden's Shak- 
spere Primer. See also Ward's History of English Dramatic Litera- 
ture, Vol. II, pages 47-51. 

2 Given in Griggs's Facsimile Quartos, Vietor's Parallel Text 
Hamlet, Wright's Cambridge Shakespeare, Vol. IX, and Furness's 
Variorum Hamlet y Vol. II. 



THE 

Tragical! Hiftorie of 
HAMLET 

Trince of Denmark^ 

By William Shake-fpeare. 

As it hath beenc diuerfe times atedby his Higbnefle fer- 
uants in the Cittie of London : asalfointhetwoV- 
nittcr/iucsofCambridgeandOxford,andcire-wherc 




At Londonprintcd for N;L andlohnTrundclf. 

Title-Page, First Quarto 
xxvii 



THE 

Tragicall Hiftorie of 

HAMLET, 

^Prince of Denmark^. 
By William Shakefpeare. 

Newly imprinted and enlarged to almoft as much 
againe as it was, according to the true and perfedi 
Coppie. 




AT LONDON. 

Printed by I. R. for N. L. and are tote fold at his 

(hoppe vndcr Saint Dunftons Church in 

JFleetftreet. 1604. 

Title-Page, Second Quarto 
xxviii 



INTRODUCTION xxix 

length with Horatio, who informs her of Hamlet's escape from 
the ship bound for England, and of his safe return to Den- 
mark. In the First Quarto is a singular absence of those 
passages which throw light on Hamlet's motives and mental 
attitude. In the Second Quarto little is added in the way of 
action and incident ; the enlargement is mainly in the contem- 
plative and imaginative parts, and here the difference between 
the two editions is very great and of such a kind as to evince 
a most astonishing growth of intellectual power and resource. 

A reasonable theory of the relation of these two Quartos, 
and one widely accepted, is that the First Quarto represents 
in an imperfect form the first draft of Shakespeare's play, 
and was printed from ' copy ' obtained surreptitiously, prob- 
ably from the notes of some shorthand writer, 1 " supple- 
mented by a reference to the authentic copy in the library 
of the theatre," 2 and that the Second Quarto represents 
the play revised and enlarged by Shakespeare. 

In the Clarendon Press Hamlet the following conclusion 
is advanced " with some diffidence " by the editors, W. G. 
Clark and Dr. W. Aldis Wright : 

That there was an old play on the story of Hamlet, some portions 
of which are still preserved in the quarto of 1603 ; that about the 

1 There are interesting allusions in Elizabethan literature to 
pirating plays by means of shorthand. See Dewischeit's Shakespeare 
und die Stenographie, Shakespeare Jahrbuch, XXXIV. 

2 This quotation is from Dr. W. Aldis Wright, editor of the Cam- 
bridge Shakespeare, who, finding many errors which seem like 
errors of a copyist rather than of a hearer, adds : " Very probably 
the man employed for this purpose was some inferior actor or serv- 
ant, who would necessarily work in haste and by stealth, and in 
any case would not be likely to work very conscientiously for the 
printer or bookseller who was paying him to deceive his masters." 



xxx THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

year 1602 Shakespeare took this and began to remodel it for the 
stage, as he had done with other plays; that the quarto of 1603 
represents the play after it had been retouched by him to a certain 
extent, but before his alterations were complete ; and that in the 
quarto of 1604 we have for the first time the Hamlet of Shakespeare. 

2. The Later Quartos. After the publication of the Second 
Quarto the popularity of Hamlet was attested by a series of 
Quartos, each printed, with slightly modernized spelling, 
seemingly from its predecessor. In 1605 appeared the Third 
Quarto (Q 3 ) which had, with the exception of the date of 
publication, a title-page identical with that of the Second 
Quarto, and is in the main a reprint of that edition. In 1607 
a new Hamlet entry appeared in The Stationers' Registers, 
making over the ownership of the copyright to John Smy- 
thick (Smethwicke), whose name appears on the title-page 1 
of the Fourth Quarto (Q*), which was published in 161 1. 
On this title-page the play is no longer called The Tragicall 
Historie of Hamlet, but, as in the Folios, The Tragedy (Trage- 
die) of Hamlet. The Fifth Quarto (Q 5 ), undated, 2 but ob- 
viously a reprint, with slightly modernized spelling, was 
probably the last edition of Hamlet to appear before 161 6. 
Only two other plays, Richard the Third and 1 Henry the 
Fourth, reached five editions in Shakespeare's lifetime. 8 The 
Sixth Quarto (Q 6 ), in almost every particular a reprint of 
the Fifth, was published in 1637. Subsequently appeared a 

1 Reproduced in facsimile as the frontispiece of this volume. 

2 Malone and Collier, identifying it with the 1607 entry in The 
Stationers' Registers, assign it to that year; Halliwell thinks that it 
was " possibly printed about 1609." 

3 Sidney Lee, not recognizing the Fifth Quarto, probably because 
it is undated, groups Hamlet with Richard the Second and Romeo and 
Juliet as plays that achieved four editions in Shakespeare's lifetime. 



INTRODUCTION xxxi 

succession of Quartos, now called ' Players' Quartos,' which 
were used freely by Rowe, Pope, and other eighteenth cen- 
tury editors (without acknowledgment) in their efforts to 
emend the text. Some interesting variant readings from the 
' Players' Quarto ' of 1676 are given in the textual notes of 
this edition with the symbol Q (1676) attached. 

Folios 

In the First Folio (1623), designated in this edition F l5 
The Tragedie of Hamlet, as it is called in the running title, 
stands between Macbeth and King Lear, occupying pages 
152-280, in the division named ' Tragedies.' The Folio text 
has from 85 to 98 lines not given in the Second Quarto, 
and it omits 218 lines given there. These and many minor 
differences between the two texts are indicated in the textual 
notes of this edition. It is plain that these two texts are 
from separate stage manuscripts which for acting purposes 
have been cut differently. The Folio text, in the light of its 
omissions and additions, may be described as " more theatri- 
cal, but less literary, than that of 1604." — Dowden. 

The Second Folio, F 2 (1632), corrects many of the mis- 
prints of the First Folio, and this corrected text is repeated 
with few changes, except in the way of slightly modernized 
spelling, in the Third Folio, F 3 (1663, 1664), and in the 
Fourth Folio, F 4 (1685). 

Rowe's Editions 

The first critical editor of Shakespeare's plays was Nicholas 
Rowe, poet laureate to George I. His first edition was issued 
in 1709 in six octavo volumes. In this edition Rowe, an ex- 
perienced playwright, marked the entrances and exits of the 



xxxii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

characters, and introduced many stage directions. In the 
Quartos there is no division into acts and scenes, and in 
the Folios the division extends only to the second scene of 
the second act. This division Rowe completed, and added the 
first list of dramatis personam. A second edition, in eight 
volumes, was published ^1714. Rowe followed very closely 
the text of the Fourth Folio, but modernized spelling, punctu- 
ation, and occasionally grammar. 



IV. VERSIFICATION AND DICTION 

Blank Verse 

The greater part of Hamlet is in blank verse — the 
unrhymed, iambic five-stress (decasyllabic) verse, or iambic 
pentameter, introduced into England from Italy by Henry 
Howard, Earl of Surrey, about 1540, and used by him in a 
translation of the second and fourth books of Vergil's ALneid. 
Nicholas Grimald {TotteVs Miscellany, 1557) employed the 
measure for the first time in English original poetry, and 
its roots began to strike deep into British soil and absorb 
substance. It is peculiarly significant that Sackville and 
Norton should have used it as the measure of Gorboduc, the 
first English tragedy (performed by " the Gentlemen of the 
Inner Temple" on January 18, 1561, and first printed in 
1565). About the time when Shakespeare arrived in London 
the infinite possibilities of blank verse as a vehicle for dra- 
matic poetry and passion were being shown by Kyd, and 
above all by Marlowe. Blank verse as used by Shakespeare 
is really an epitome of the development of the measure in 
connection with the English drama. In his earlier plays the 



INTRODUCTION xxxiii 

"blank verse is often similar to that of Gorboduc. The tend- 
ency is to adhere to the syllable-counting principle, to make 
the line the unit, the sentence and phrase coinciding with 
the line (end-stopped verse), and to use five perfect iambic 
feet to the line. 1 In plays of the middle period, such as The 
Merchant of Venice and As You Like It, written between 
1596 and 1600, the blank verse is more like that of Kyd 
and Marlowe, with less monotonous regularity in the struc- 
ture and an increasing tendency to carry on the sense from 
one line to another without a syntactical or rhetorical pause 
at the end of the line (run-on verse, enjambement). Redun- 
dant syllables now abound, and the melody is richer and 
fuller. In Shakespeare's later plays the blank verse breaks 
away from bondage to formal line limits, and sweeps all 
along with it in freedom, power, and organic unity. 

In the 2358 lines of blank verse in Hamlet are found stress 
modifications of all kinds. There are 528 feminine (or double) 
endings, 8 light endings, and 205 speech endings not coin- 
cident with line endings. Such variations give to the verse 
flexibility and power in addition to music and harmony. It 
is significant that in Hamlet are no weak endings. Light end- 
ings and weak endings 2 are found most abundantly in Shake- 
speare's very latest plays. The blank verse of "^Eneas' tale 
to Dido," II, ii, 437-505, is purposely inflated and bombastic 
for the reason given in the note, II, ii, 434. 

1 There are a few such normal lines in Hamlet. For example;, 
see I, i, 8, 65, 148, 166; ii, 65, etc. 

2 Light endings, as denned by Ingram, are such words as am r can, 
do, has, I, thou, etc., on which " the voice can to a certain small ex- 
tent dwell " ; weak endings are words like and, for, from, if, in, of 
or, which " we are forced to run ... in pronunciation . . . into the 
closest connection with the opening words of the succeeding line.** 



xxxiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Alexandrines 

While French prosodists apply the term Alexandrine only 
to a twelve-syllable line with the pause after the sixth syl- 
lable, it is generally used in English to designate iambic six- 
stress verse, or iambic hexameter, of which we have a normal 
example in I, v, 163. This was a favorite Elizabethan meas- 
ure, and it was common in moral plays and the earlier heroic 
drama. English literature has no finer examples of this verse 
than the last line of each stanza of The Faerie Queene. In 
Hamlet are about 40 Alexandrines. Care should be taken 
to distinguish between Alexandrines and such trimeter coup- 
lets as are found in I, v, 6. Shakespeare seems to have used 
such trimeter couplets for rapid dialogue and retort. See 
Abbott, § 500. 

Rhyme 

1. Couplets. A progress from more to less rhyme in the 
regular dialogue is a sure index to Shakespeare's develop- 
ment as a dramatist and a master of expression. In the 
early Love's Labour's Lost are more than 500 rhyming 
five-stress iambic couplets; in the very late The Winter's 
Tale there is not one. 1 Exclusive of the ' Mouse-trap ' play, 
III, ii, there are in Hamlet 27 rhyming couplets, of which 
nearly a half are exit tags ; most of the others are those 
sententious generalizations which are so often in this kind of 
verse. An unusual number of the exit tags have also the 
character of rhymed maxims. It is noteworthy that Polo- 
nius's precepts are in blank verse. 

1 The Chorus speech introducing Act IV is excepted as not part 
of the regular dialogue. 



INTRODUCTION xxxv 

2. ' Mouse-trap ' Couplets. The ' Mouse-trap ' play is intro- 
duced by three iambic four-stress lines rhyming together, III, 
ii, 130-132 ; then come 78 lines of rhymed five-stress iambic 
couplets, most of them formally closed, giving the peculiarly 
archaic and artificial effect which differentiates the play within 
the play from the play itself. As in the case of the Masque 
couplets in The Tempest, this use of rhyme, contingent on 
special reasons for its introduction, has no weight in deter- 
mining the date of the play by application of the rhyme test. 

3. Song Snatches. Ophelia's first three song snatches — 
" How should I your true-love know," IV, v, 23-26, " He 
is dead and gone, lady," IV, v, 29-32, "White his shroud 
as the mountain snow," IV, v, 34, 36-38 — are four-stress 
trochaic (catalectic) alternating with irregular three-stress ; 
u To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day," IV, v, 46-49, is irreg- 
ular iambic four-stress and three-stress alternating ; " They 
bore him bare-fac'd on the bier," IV, v, 146-148, is iambic 
four-stress, with a conventional refrain ; " And will he not 
come again," IV, v, 170-179, is irregular three-stress iam- 
bic, with dactylic effects in the third and the fourth lines of 
the stanza. The quatrain that Polonius reads from Hamlet's 
letter, II, ii, 11 6-1 19, is iambic three-stress; the norm of 
Hamlet's snatches, III, ii, 248-251, 257-260, is the ballad 
stanza 1 of four-stress iambic alternating with three-stress ; 
so is that of the stanzas sung by the Clown " at grave- 
making," V, i, 59-62, 69-72, 89-92. 

1 The regular measure of the old ballads seems to have been 
originally four-stress throughout, with a tendency to drop the last 
stress in the alternating lines. The development of this tendency 
gives the measure of the Robin Hood ballads, etc., and the ' common 
metre ' of modern hymns. 



xxxvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Prose 

In the development of the English drama the use of prose 
as a vehicle of expression entitled to equal rights with verse 
was due to Lyly. He was the first to use prose with power 
and distinction in original plays, and did memorable service in 
preparing the way for Shakespeare's achievement. Interest- 
ing attempts have been made to explain Shakespeare's dis 
tinctive use of verse and prose ; and of recent years there has 
been much discussion of the question " whether we are jus- 
tified in supposing that Shakespeare was guided by any fixed 
principle in his employment of verse and prose, or whether 
he merely employed them, as fancy suggested, for the sake 
of variety and relief." 1 It is a significant fact that in many 
of his earlier plays there is little or no prose, and that the pro- 
portion of prose to blank verse increases with the decrease of 
rhyme. In Hamlet five kinds of prose may be distinguished : 
(i) The prose of formal documents, as in Hamlet's three 
letters, II, ii, 120-124; IV, vi, 12-26; IV, vii, 43~47- I n 
Shakespeare, prose is the usual medium for letters, proclama- 
tions, and other formal documents. (2) The prose of ' low 
life ' and the speech of comic characters, as in the grave- 
digging scene, V, i. This is a development of the humorous 
prose found, for example, in Greene's comedies that deal 
with country life. (3) The colloquial prose of. dialogue, as 
in the talk between Hamlet and the First Player, II, ii, 523- 
534, and in the conversation between Hamlet and Horatio, 

1 Professor J. Churton Collins's Shakespeare as a Prose Writer. 
See Delius's Die Prosa in Shakespeares Dramen {Shakespeare Jahr- 
luch, V, 227-273); Janssen's Die Prosa in Shakespeares Dramen; 
Professor Hiram Corson's An Introduction to the Study of Shake- 
speare, pp. 83-98. 



INTRODUCTION xxxvii 

V, i. In both these passages, as in the grave-digging scene,, 
the prose diction gives temporary emotional relief and pre- 
pares for the heightening of the dramatic pitch in the scenes 
which immediately follow. (4) The prose of abnormal men- 
tality, as in the scenes where Hamlet plays the madman, or 
in IV, v, where Ophelia appears in her madness. It is an 
interesting fact that Shakespeare should so often make per- 
sons whose state of mind is abnormal, or seemingly so, speak 
in prose. "The idea underlying this custom of Shakespeare's 
evidently is that the regular rhythm of verse would be inap- 
propriate where the mind is supposed to have lost its balance 
and to be at the mercy of chance impressions coming from 
without (as sometimes with Lear), or of ideas emerging from 
its unconscious depths and pursuing one another across its 
passive surface." — A. C. Bradley. 1 (5) Impassioned, or 
highly wrought poetical and rhetorical prose, as in II, ii, 
294-303. Here Shakespeare raises prose to the sublimest 
pitch of verse. " It would be hard to cull from the whole 
body of our prose literature a passage which should demon- 
strate more strikingly the splendour and the majesty of our 
language, when freed from the shackles of verse." — Churton 
Collins. Why this passage is in prose has called forth inter- 
esting discussions, to which Corson and Verity have con- 
tributed notes of value : " It . . . continues the form of the 
preceding dialogue, for the sake of general harmony of 
effect, but breathes into that form the spirit of the loftiest 
imaginative ardour." — Verity. 

1 Bradley thus comments on the fact that Hamlet speaks in verse 
in the quarrel with Laertes at Ophelia's grave, and in the final scene 
of the play : " I wonder the disuse of prose in these two scenes has 
not been observed, and used as an argument, by those who think 
that Hamlet, with the commission in his pocket, is now resolute." 



xxxviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

V. SCENE OF ACTION 

Hamlet is almost as faithful as The Tempest to the unity 
of place. Elsinore is the scene throughout, except possibly 
in IV, iv. The scene is even more specialized ; it is the castle 
at Elsinore, 1 except in IV, iv, and V, i. Elsinore, the Danish 
Helsingor, is not mentioned by Saxo in the old Hamlet story, 
and as it was his birthplace it is natural to suppose he would 
have done so had there been a link of connection. The name 
probably came into the Hamlet story after English players 
had acted at Elsinore in 1585-1587. 

VI. DURATION OF ACTION 

Whatever view be taken of the dramatic time of action in 
Hamlet, there are inconsistencies and discrepancies when the 
matter is judged mechanically by chronometers and almanacs. 
Some of these discrepancies and difficulties are referred to 
in the notes to the text, but they vanish into thin air when 
the difference between a poet's point of view and a scientist's 
is recognized. 2 The action of the play is from midnight at a 
season of the year when the weather is " bitter cold," until 
the end of May or the beginning of June, as shown by Ophe- 
lia's flowers. 3 The duration of the action may be estimated 

1 What modern editors call ' Polonius's house ' might just as well 
he called ' Polonius's rooms in the castle.' 

2 " Shakespeare . . . did not trouble himself to reconcile ... in- 
consistencies which practical experience as an actor would tell him 
do not trouble the spectator." — Hall Griffin. 

3 " Rosemary and rue are evergreens, but the violets are withered, 
while fennel, columbines, daisies, and pansies are in bloom; the 
willow-trees are in leaf, and Ophelia can make garlands of crow- 
flowers, nettles, and ' long purples.' " — Hall Griffin. 



INTRODUCTION xxxix 

at from six to eight days extended over a period of from two 
to four months. Daniel gives the time of the play as seven 
days, or eight if the reader prefers to assign a separate day 
to the last scene. His formal time scheme is : 

Day i . — I, i - iii. 
Day 2. — I, iv-v. 
An interval of rather more than two months. 
Day 3. — II. 

Day 4. — III, i-iv ; IV, i-iii. 
Day 5. — IV, iv. 

An interval — a week ? 
Day 6. — IV, v-vii. 
Day 7. — V. 

In Marshall's time scheme the interval between Day 5 and 
Day 6 is " about two months " ; two days are supposed to 
elapse between Day 6 and Day 7, and the action of the last 
act is extended over two days. 

VII. DRAMATIC CONSTRUCTION AND 
DEVELOPMENT 

Hamlet is a romantic tragedy of a normal Shakespearian 
type in which is represented a conflict between an individual, 
and certain forces which environ, antagonize, and overwhelm. 
The unity of action and of interest is the personality of Ham- 
let. He is peculiarly, pathetically, alone amid the antagoniz- 
ing forces, and the conception of his character fuses into a. 
unity of perennial human interest the heterogeneous elements 
derived from the old story, the old play, the Senecan tradition,, 
and the popular contemporary tragedy of blood and revenge. 



xl THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

The very soliloquies become " landmarks in the depiction of 
the inner struggle and in the general progress of the action." 
— A. H. Thorndike. Highly complex in construction, the 
play is simple in dramatic technique. 1 This, along with its 
remarkable human interest, has made it one of the most 
effective of acting plays. Its popularity on the stage has 
been as marked as its appeal to philosopher and cloistered 
student. It is a superb tragedy .of action ; it is at the same 
time one of the supreme world-tragedies of thought. In 
Hamlet, as in every great drama, five stages may be noted 
in the plot development: (i) the exposition, or introduction; 
{2) the complication, rising action, or growth ; (3) the climax, 
crisis, or turning point ; (4) the resolution, falling action, or 
consequence ; and (5) the denouement, catastrophe, or con- 
clusion. 

Analysis by Act and Scene 2 

I. The Exposition, or Introduction 

Act I, Scene i. The play opens amid agitation and gloom (see 
note, I, i, 1-3). The serious situation of affairs at Elsinore is dis- 
closed; the character of the late king is described, and his reap- 
pearance after death indicates a mysterious wrong to be righted. 
The adventures of young Fortinbras are recited, and his prowess 
prepares for the important position he is to assume at the close of 
the play. 

1 For suggestive and stimulating notes on the dramatic construc- 
tion of Hamlet, see Bradley's Shakespearean Tragedy, 40-67, 89-174. 

2 " It must be understood that a play can be analyzed into very 
different schemes of plot. It must not be thought that one of these 
schemes is right and the rest wrong ; but the schemes will be better 
or worse in proportion as — while of course representing correctly 
the facts of the play — they bring out more or less of what ministers 
to our sense of design." — Moulton. 



INTRODUCTION xli 

Act 7, Scene ii. The corrupt conditions at court are revealed, and 
Hamlet is introduced, brooding over the situation and dejected at 
the thought of his mother's hasty marriage to such a man as he 
conceives Claudius to be. In this frame of mind he is told of the 
Ghost, and his suspicions are aroused. 

Act 7, Scene iii. Polonius and Ophelia are introduced, and the 
corrupt influence of the court is further shown in the dialogue be- 
tween Laertes and his father. The relations between Hamlet and 
Ophelia are indicated (see Coleridge's note, quoted in annotation, 
I, iii, i). 

Act 7, Scene iv — Scene v, 1-28. After a remarkable self- revelation 
by Hamlet of his mental attitude and point of view, the Ghost ap- 
pears to him, and in words that develop to a thrilling climax tells 
him definitely that his father was murdered, and gives him his first 
command, " Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder." The 
exposition of the play is now complete. The leading characters 
have been introduced ; the opening situations are explained ; the 
machinery is ready to be set in motion. 

II. The Complication, Rising Action, or Growth 

Act 7, Scene v, 2Q-181. A definite motive for action by Hamlet 
has now been supplied. With his spirited reply, lines 29-31, to the 
Ghost's call to revenge begins the complication. The machinery of 
the play is now in motion. The first distinct element in the compli- 
cation is in the second command of the Ghost, lines 85-86 /see 
note). / 

Act 77, Scene i. The quiet talk between Polonius and Reynaldo, 
lines 1-73, serves as a relief to the excitement of the preceding 
scene and throws more light on the characters of Polonius and 
Laertes ; the conversation between Ophelia and her father, lines 
73-119, first introduces Hamlet with his "antic disposition" on. 
Polonius implies that at court the prince is already regarded as mad, 
and he concludes that he is crazed for love of Ophelia. Whether 
Hamlet's appearance and behavior as described by Ophelia were 
part of the " antic disposition," or simply indicated his intense emo- 
tion at taking leave of one whom he passionately loved, is an inter- 
esting question. 



xlii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Act II, Scene ii. Among the dramatic motives in this long scene 
are (i) the varied effect of Hamlet's "antic disposition" upon the 
groups at court represented by Claudius, Gertrude, the newly 
arrived Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and Ophelia ; 

(2) the emphasizing of Hamlet's dilatoriness by the return of the 
ambassadors sent to Norway (I, ii), their mission accomplished; 

(3) renewed interest in the cause of Fortinbras ; and (4) the arrival 
of the players, and the beginning of Hamlet's plans for the great 
play scene. Throughout may be traced the working of what Brad- 
ley calls the " principle of alternation," an oscillating movement of 
the action, now in favor of Hamlet, now in favor of Claudius. 

Act III, Scene i. Hamlet's interview with Ophelia brings the crisis 
in her life history (see note, III, i, 105), and it convinces Claudius 
that love is not the cause of Hamlet's strange behavior. Suspect- 
ing the true reason, he plans to send his nephew to England. 

Act III, Scene ii. This scene is a triumph of dramatic construc- 
tion. It opens quietly with the famous exposition of the principles 
of practical dramatic art in the instructions to the players, and a 
conversation with Horatio in which he takes his friend into his 
confidence. As the court assembles to witness the play, Hamlet's 
increasing nervous tension betrays itself in every word and action. 
Then comes his complete triumph in the " unkennelling " of the 
" occulted guilt," as Claudius rushes from the scene with the cry, 
" Give me some light ! Away ! " 

Act III, Scene Hi, 1-72. As the climax or crisis of the play ap- 
proaches, the oscillation of the action seems to cease ; plotter and 
counter-plotter appear to have equal advantage. The play not only 
convinced Hamlet of Claudius's guilt ; it showed Claudius how dan- 
gerous Hamlet was, and he completes his arrangements for getting 
rid of him forever. 

III. The Climax, Crisis, or Turning Point 1 

Act III, Scene Hi, 73~g8. Dramatic literature has no passage of 
greater insight or power than Hamlet's sparing of Claudius when 

1 Many interpreters and students of dramatic technique find the 
'turning point' in the play scene, III, ii, 210-247 



INTRODUCTION xliii 

he finds the king alone and wholly in his power. This is the turn- 
ing point in the play. From now on to the catastrophe the antago- 
nizing forces control the action. 

IV. The Resolution, Falling Action, or Consequence 

Act III, Scene iv. In this, " the closet scene," the emotional in- 
tensity of the play is at full tide, and poignantly effective is the 
inversion of the natural order in the administration of scathing re- 
buke to a mother by a son. The leading dramatic motives of the 
scene are the killing of Polonius — which is in'sharp contrast to the 
sparing of Claudius — and the reappearance of the Ghost " to whet " 
the " almost blunted purpose " and recall the previous mandate, 
"nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught." The climactic 
significance of Hamlet's refusal to kill Claudius is emphasized by 
this re-appearance. 

Act IV, Scene i — Scene Hi. The consequences of the killing of 
Polonius are revealed in the strengthening of the case of Claudius 
against Hamlet. Claudius is justified in guarding the prince until he 
can be sent away. 

Act IV, Scene iv. The references to young Fortinbras in I, i, and 
II, ii, have prepared for his appearance in this scene. His charac- 
ter as a strong, practical man of affairs affords an effective contrast 
to that of Hamlet, and this contrast is expressed by Hamlet him- 
self in the great soliloquy with which the scene closes. 

Act IV, Scene v. More consequences of the killing of Polonius are 
revealed. The death of her father following the loss of her lover is 
the cause of Ophelia's madness. Laertes, too, is home from Paris vow- 
ing swift revenge for his father's murder and hurried, unworthy burial. 

Act IV, Scene vi. The letter to Horatio brings Hamlet again to 
the front, and announces that the news of his return to Denmark 
will soon be known to Claudius. 

Act IV, Scene vii. Hamlet's return stimulates Claudius to quick 
action. Claudius finds Laertes a willing tool in the arrangement 
of a base plot against the life of Hamlet, and the death of his sister 
strengthens Laertes in his scheme for revenge. 

Act V, Scene i. Like the " Porter scene " in Macbeth, the grave- 
digging scene is a signal instance of relief in Shakespearian tragedy 



xliv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

by the introduction of humorous matter. The humor here is not 
out of keeping with the scene of action, and passes naturally into 
the moralizing of Hamlet. In high tragedy the sympathy must at 
the close be with the hero, and the fact that it is Ophelia's grave 
that is being dug, strangely increases the sense of pity for Hamlet. 
By the grave his love of her finds passionate expression. This con- 
fession makes him known to Laertes ; and the antagonizing forces 
in this way gain a distinct advantage. 

Act V, Scene u, 1-214. To complete the resolution or falling 
action, Hamlet tells Horatio how he managed to defeat the king's 
scheme for getting rid of him. The brief scene with Osric follows, 
giving a new glimpse of Hamlet's wit and intellectual edge, and 
then comes the invitation to the fatal fencing match. The falling 
action closes with Hamlet's expression of a presentiment of evil. 

V. The Denouement, Catastrophe, or Conclusion 

Act V, Scene u, 215-393. The final consequences of the death of 
Polonius come in the holocaust of the catastrophe. At the last* 
Hamlet is a man of supreme action, who dominates the awful de- 
nouement. With dramatic fitness the best and the worst in each of 
the characters find expression in their final speeches. The nobility 
and the sweetness of Hamlet's nature exhale in his last words, so 
hauntingly beautiful after the fierce invective with which he stabs 
Claudius to his doom. With the entry of Fortinbras a new order 
begins, and day breaks along the valley of the shadow of death. 

VIII. THE CHARACTERS 

Hamlet 

Schlegel describes Hamlet as a "tragedy of thought." 
This is its character among the world's great dramas, and 
it takes this character from the hero's mind. Hamlet every- 
where floods the scene with intellectual wealth in the varied 
forms of wit, humor, subtle psychology, high philosophy, 



INTRODUCTION xlv 

and magnificent poetry. With large stores of moral and prac- 
tical wisdom, and affluent with the spoils of learning, of gen- 
ius, and of art, he enriches and adorns whatever he touches, 
making it fresh, racy, delectable, and instructive. And he 
does all this without any sign of exertion, does it with the 
ease and fluency of a free native impulse, so as to preclude 
the idea of its being a special purpose with him. For, with 
all his redundancy of mental treasure, he nowhere betrays 
the least ostentation of intellect. It is plainly the unlabored, 
unaffected issue of a mind so full that it cannot choose but 
overflow. 

But perhaps the leading characteristic of this play lies in 
its strong resemblance to the classic tragedy, in that the 
action is, in a very peculiar degree, dominated by what the 
ancients called Fate, but what to-day is termed Providence. 
No modern drama leaves a deeper impression of a super- 
human power presiding over a war of irregular and opposing 
forces and calmly working out its own purpose through the 
baffled, disjointed, and conflicting purposes of human agents. 
Of course the poet's genius is itself the providence of the 
play. But here again his insight is so profound and so just, 
his workmanship so true to the course of human experience, 
that all things come to pass just as if ordered by the Divine 
Providence of the world. And however the persons go at 
cross aims with each other or themselves, they still move true 
to the author's aim ; their confused and broken schemes he 
uses as the elements of a higher order, and the harshest dis- 
cords of their plane of thought serve to enrich and deepen 
the harmonies of his, their very blunders and failures minis- 
tering to his success, their wilfulness to his law, their mad- 
ness to his reason. 



xlvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Hamlet's Sanity 

The leading opinions as to Hamlet's sanity are : (i) that 
he is " neither mad nor pretends to be so " ; 1 (2) that he 
feigns madness ; (3) that at times he is mad and at times 
feigns madness ; and (4) that he is really mad. Furness asks 
the advocates of the theory of feigned insanity " how they 
account for Hamlet's being able, in the flash of time between 
the vanishing of the Ghost and the coming of Horatio and 
Marcellus, to form, horror-struck as he was, a plan for the 
whole conduct of his future life ? " The advocates of the 
theory of real insanity, among whom are many distinguished 
mental pathologists, lay stress upon the facts (1) that mad- 
ness is " compatible with some of the ripest and richest man- 
ifestations of intellect," (2) that Hamlet himself both affirms 
and denies his madness, and (3) that at the last, in his gen- 
erous apology, his solemn appeal, to Laertes, V, ii, 216-234, 
where it is surely unjust to pronounce him insincere, he 
alleges his mental disorder as fairly entitling him to the par- 
don which he asks for the offence he has given. 2 

A reasonable view of Hamlet's mental condition is that 
in native texture he is a man of finest moral sensibility and 
intellectual sensitiveness, with a tendency to the noble melan- 
choly of all great natures ; and that (1) the discovery of his 
mother's conduct and the shameless conditions at court, so 
soon after his father's death, (2) his interview with the 
Ghost, (3) the Ghost's appalling disclosures and injunctions, 

1 Furness, Variorum Hamlet, Vol. I, Preface, ix. 

2 In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare a plea was made 
for Hamlet's insanity, and evidence was produced in support of 
these three propositions. 



INTRODUCTION xlvii 

and (4) his instant view and grasp of the whole dire situa- 
tion in which he is now placed, have to a certain degree dis- 
turbed the equipoise of his mind, shaken it to its depths, but 
shaken it as storms shake trees to strengthen and make 
more efficient. Such a temperament and such an experi- 
ence account naturally both for the skilful assumption of 
the " antic disposition " and for those outbursts of abnormal 
vehemence which mark Hamlet's conduct from time to time. 

Did Hamlet Procrastinate? 

The heart of the Hamlet mystery, the core of the Hamlet 
controversy, is in the seeming delay of the hero to carry out 
the command of the Ghost. The theories of this delay may 
be grouped as either (1) subjective, making the reasons 
wholly personal and temperamental, or (2) objective, find- 
ing the causes in the nature of the task assigned and in diffi- 
culties wholly external. 1 

SUBJECTIVE THEORIES 

The leading interpretations that find the reasons for delay 
in personal and temperamental difficulties may be classed as 
(1) the ' sentimental ' theory, represented by Goethe ; (2) the 
'weakness of will' theory, represented by Schlegel and 
Coleridge ; 2 and (3) the ' conscience ' theory, represented by 
Ulrici. The central position in the theories of these interpre- 
ters is here given in their own words. 

1 A summary of Hamlet theories is given by A. H. Tolman in 
The Views about Hamlet and Other Essays, and by Charlton M. Lewis 
in The Genesis of Hamlet. 

2 Dowden's theory, given in Shakspere, his Mind and Art, may 
be regarded as a modification of this. 



xlviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

GOETHE 

Goethe's interpretation of Hamlet's character is in Wil- 

helm Meisters Lehrjahre, IV, iii-xiii, V, iv-xi. The following 

is Carlyle's translation of what Goethe calls " the key to 

Hamlet's whole procedure " : 

" The time is out of joint : O cursed spite, 
That ever I was born to set it right ! " 

In these words, I imagine, will be found the key to Hamlet's 
whole procedure. To me it is clear that Shakspeare meant, in the 
present case, to represent the effects of a great action laid upon 
a soul unfit for the performance of it. In this view the whole play 
seems to me to be composed. There is an oak-tree planted in a 
costly jar, which should have borne only pleasant flowers in its 
bosom : the roots expand, the jar is shivered. 

A lovely, pure, noble, and most moral nature, without the strength 
of nerve which forms a hero, sinks beneath a burden it cannot bear 
and must not cast away. All duties are holy for him : the present is 
too hard. Impossibilities have been required of him, — not in them- 
selves impossibilities, but such for him. He winds and turns, and 
torments himself ; he advances and recoils ; is ever put in mind, 
ever puts himself in mind ; at last does all but lose his purpose from 
his thoughts, yet still without recovering his peace of mind. 

SCHLEGEL 

From Black's translation of Schlegel's Ueber dramatische 
Kunst und Litteratur • 

Hamlet has no firm belief either in himself or in anything else. 
From expressions of religious confidence he passes over to sceptic- 
al doubts. He c believes in the ghost of his father when he sees it ; 
and as soon as it has disappeared, it appears to him almost in the 
light of a deception. He has even got so far as to say, " There is 
nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." The poet 
loses himself with his hero in the labyrinths of thought, in which 
we find neither end nor beginning. The stars themselves, from the 



INTRODUCTION xlix 

course of events, afford no answer to the question so urgently 
proposed to them. A voice commissioned, as it would appear, by 
heaven from another world demands vengeance for a monstrous 
enormity, and the demand remains without effect. The criminals 
are at last punished, but, as it were, by an accidental blow, and not 
in a manner requisite to announce with solemnity a warning exam- 
ple of justice to the world. Irresolute foresight, cunning treachery, 
and impetuous rage are hurried on to the same destruction ; the 
less guilty or the innocent are equally involved in the general de- 
struction. The destiny of humanity is there exhibited as a gigantic 
sphinx, which threatens to precipitate into the abyss of scepticism 
whoever is unable to solve her dreadful enigma. 

COLERIDGE 

From Coleridge's Notes and Lectures upon Shakespeare : 

I believe the character of Hamlet may be traced to Shake- 
speare's deep and accurate science in mental philosophy. Indeed, 
that this character must have some connection with the common 
fundamental laws of our nature may be assumed from the fact that 
Hamlet has been the darling of every country in which the litera- 
ture of England has been fostered. In order to understand him, it 
is essential that we should reflect on the constitution of our own 
minds. Man is distinguished from the brute animals in proportion 
as thought prevails over sense ; but in the healthy processes of the 
mind, a balance is constantly maintained between the impressions 
from outward objects and the inward operations of the intellect; for 
if there be an overbalance in the contemplative faculty, man there- 
by becomes the creature of mere meditation, and loses his natural 
power of action. Now, one of Shakespeare's modes of creating 
characters is to conceive any one intellectual or moral faculty in 
morbid excess, and then to place himself, Shakespeare, thus muti- 
lated or diseased, under given circumstances. In Hamlet he seems 
to have wished to exemplify the moral necessity of a due balance 
between our attention to the objects of our senses and our medi- 
tation on the working of our minds, — an equilibrium between the 
real and the imaginary worlds. In Hamlet this balance is disturbed ; 



1 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

his thoughts and the images of his fancy are far more vivid than 
his actual perceptions, and his very perceptions, instantly passing 
through the medium of his contemplations, acquire, as they pass, a 
form and a colour not naturally their own. Hence we see a great, an 
almost enormous, intellectual activity, and a proportionate aversion 
to real action consequent upon it, with all its symptoms and accom- 
panying qualities. This character Shakespeare places in circum- 
stances under which it is obliged to act on the spur of the moment. 
Hamlet is brave and careless of death ; but he vacillates from sen- 
sibility, and procrastinates from thought, and loses the power of 
action in the energy of resolve. Thus it is that the tragedy presents 
a direct contrast to that of Macbeth ; the one proceeds with the 
utmost slowness, the other with a crowded and breathless rapidity.. 

ULRICI 

From Morrison's translation of Ulrici's Shakesfieares 
dramatische Kunst : 

Even when Hamlet has assured himself of the King's guilt by 
the device of the play, he still hesitates, and forms no resolve ; he 
is still beset with doubts and scruples, — but preeminently moral 
doubts and moral scruples ! Most justly. Even though the King 
were trebly a fratricide, in a Christian sense, it would still be a sin 
to put him to death with one's own hand, without a trial and without 
justice. In Hamlet, therefore, we behold the Christian struggling 
with the natural man, and its demand for revenge in a tone rendered 
still louder and deeper by the hereditary prejudices of the Teutonic 
nations. The natural man spurs him on to immediate action, and 
charges his doubts with cowardice and irresolution; the Christian 
spirit, — though, indeed, as a feeling rather than as a conviction, — 
draws him back, though still resisting. He hesitates, and delays, and 
tortures himself with a vain attempt to reconcile these conflicting 
impulses and between them to preserve his own liberty of will and 
action . . . the mind of Hamlet ... is throughout struggling to retain 
the mastery which the judgment ought invariably to hold over the will 
. . . Whenever Hamlet does act, it is not upon the suggestion of his 
deliberate judgment, but hurried away rather by the heat of passion. 



INTRODUCTION li 

OBJECTIVE THEORIES 1 
ZIEGLER 

In 1803 the famous actor Ziegler published a study of 
Hamlet's character in which was given for the first time 
an explanation of Hamlet's conduct based upon the nature 
of the task before him. The following sentences are from 
Furness's translation : 

If the King's occulted guilt unkennel itself, Hamlet's sword must 
be plunged in the murderer's heart. If the royal bodyguards do not 
instantly cut him down, which is to be expected, he will certainly 
have to justify the assassination of the King before a legally consti- 
tuted court . . . The issue of the court play in all its frightful pro- 
portions is before his soul, — he sees the quick glittering swords 
of the bodyguard, or else the cold array of judges condemning the 
slayer of the King. 

KLEIN 

The following extracts are from A. Cohn's translation of 
L. Klein's Berliner Modenspiegel, 1846, as given in Furness's 
Variorum Hamlet : 

The tragic root of this deepest of all tragedies is secret guilt. 
Over fratricide, with which history introduces its horrors, there rests 
here in this drama a heavier and more impenetrable veil than over 
the primeval crime. There the blood of a brother, murdered with- 
out any witness of the deed, visibly streaming, cries to Heaven for 
vengeance. Here the brother in sleep, far from all witnesses or the 
possible knowledge of any one, is stolen upon and murdered. . . . 
The horror of this crime is its security ; the horror of this murder 
is that it murders discovery. . . . This Cain's deed is known to no 

1 A remarkable arraignment of the theories which find the causes 
of Hamlet's delay " merely, or mainly, or even to any considerable 
extent, in external difficulties," will be found in Bradley's Shake- 
spearean Tragedy, 94-96. 



lii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

one but the murderer, and to Him who witnesses the murderer's 
secret remorse. The son has no other certainty of the unwitnessed 
murder than the suspicion generated by his ardent filial love, the 
prophecy of his bleeding heart, " O my prophetic soul ! " no other 
conviction but the inner psychological conviction of his acute mind ; 
no other power of proving it but that which results from the strength 
of his strong, horror-struck understanding, highly and philosophi- 
cally cultivated by reflection and education ; no other testimony than 
the voice of his own soul inflamed and penetrated by his filial affec- 
tion ; no other light upon the black crime hidden in the bosom of 
the murderer than the clear insight of his own soul. Vengeance 
is impossible, for its aim hovers in an ideal sphere. It falters, it 
shrinks back from itself, and it must do so, for it lacks the sure 
basis, the tangible hilt; it lacks what alone can justify it before 
God and the world, material proof. ... In Hamlet, Shakespeare 
has illustrated his great historical theorem by modes of proof differ- 
ent from those employed in his other tragedies : that punishment is 
only guilt developed, the necessary consequence of a guilt volun- 
tarily incurred. . . . The dogma that " Foul deeds will rise, though 
all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes," is proved here with 
fearful import. By this fundamental idea is Hamlet to be explained. 

WERDER 

The objective theory of Hamlet's delay which has attracted 
most attention is that advanced by Karl Werder in his essay, 
Vorlesungen uber Shakespeares Hamlet, Berlin, 1875. Wer- 
der recognizes that there are other difficulties than those that 
are merely external, but takes the following strong and com- 
manding position in his justly famous argument : 

To a tragical revenge there is necessary, punishment, to punish- 
ment justice, and to justice the vindication of it before the world. 
And, therefore, Hamlet's aim is not the crown, nor is it his first 
duty to kill the King; but his task is justly to punish the murderer 
of his father, unassailable as that murderer is in the eye of the 
world, and to satisfy the Danes of the rightousness of this procedure. 



INTRODUCTION liii 

... It is the difficulty of producing this evidence, this proof, the 
apparent impossibility of convicting the guilty person, that con- 
stitutes the cardinal point in Hamlet! And therefore killing the 
King before the proof is adduced would be, not killing the guilty, but 
killing the proof; it would be, not the murder of the criminal, but 
the murder of Justice ! It would be Truth that would be struck dead, 
through such an annihilation of its only means of triumph ; the tragic 
action would degenerate into the action of mere brutes ; a strange, 
outrageous, brutal blow, across the clear eyes of the understanding, 
would be this senseless stroke, — for which the critics are so impor- 
tunate ! . . . Upon the one side, a well-defended fortress, and with- 
out, a single man, who is to take it, he alone. So stands Hamlet 
confronting his task. 

GENERAL DISCUSSION 1 

In considering the question of Hamlet's delay to strike 
the King, it must be remembered that the Ghost's com- 
mands (I, v, 25, 84-86) leave the time and manner of re- 
venging the " foul and most unnatural murder " to Hamlet's 
own judgment, only he must not taint his soul, nor con- 
trive against his mother aught. He might take off Claudius 
as secretly, and in some such way, as Claudius has taken 
off his father; but this would be to stain himself with 
the most abominable guilt and baseness. Whatsoever he 
does, he must be ready to avow it in the face of all Den- 
mark, and to stand responsible for it. Come what may, he 
must, he can, use no arts but manly arts. He is placed in a 
dreadful dilemma. He must punish — it is his most sacred 
duty to punish — a crime which it is not possible for him 

1 The view of Hamlet's character and the theory of his action 
here set forth were held by Dr. Hudson before Werder's essay was 
published, but to that essay the spirit and form of this analysis owe 
not a little. 



liv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

to prove, and which must not be punished till it has been 
proved. His strong, clear head instantly takes in the whole 
truth of his situation, comprehends at a glance the entire 
case in all its points and bearings. All this may well fill him, 
as indeed it does, with the most excruciating and inevitable 
agony ; and while he thus lives in torture, his mighty suffer- 
ing, even because he is so strong, arouses all his faculties, 
and permits not a particle of the intellectual man to be lost. 

From the time of his interview with the Ghost, all is 
changed with Hamlet, — all, both without and within ; hence- 
forth he lives in quite another world, and is himself quite 
another man. All his old aims and aspirations are to be 
sternly renounced and thrust aside ; life can have no more 
joys for him ; his whole future must be cast in a new shape. 
All the duties upon which his thoughts have been hitherto 
centred are now merged in the one sacred, all-absorbing task 
enjoined upon him as from heaven itself. 

Now so great, so sudden, so agonizing a change within 
cannot but work some corresponding change without ; it will 
naturally, and even necessarily, register itself in his manner 
and behavior. While he is so different, how is it possible 
he should appear the same ? And he himself evidently fore- 
sees that this change will cause him to be regarded as beside 
himself, as out of his right mind, especially as he cannot dis- 
close the reason of it, and must by all means keep the cause 
of that change, or even any whisper of it, from reaching 
the King or the court. A behavior so strange, so odd, so; un- 
accountable, must needs appear to others to have sprung 
from a stroke of madness. All this he clearly forecasts, as 
indeed he well may, and he desires, apparently, that his 
action may be so construed ; he lets his " antic disposition " 



INTRODUCTION lv 

have free course, and rather studies than otherwise to sustain 
and strengthen by his conduct the imputation of madness. 
'' To this degree," says Werder, " to this degree, which is 
relatively slight, he makes believe, he plays the madman. 
But because it is essentially his truth, the effect of his real 
suffering, of his shattered being, to which his mind gives 
vent so far as it can without betraying his secret, because 
it is his torture, his rage, his cry of woe, his agony, thus out- 
wardly expressed, therefore this playing of his is not merely 
feigning, and because not merely, therefore not feigning at 
all, in the strict sense of the word." 

Hamlet is not indeed master of the situation, but he under- 
stands the situation, which is just what some of his critics 
have not done, and he is not master of it because, as things 
stand, such mastery is quite beyond the power of any man. 
The critics in question insist that the one thing which Hamlet 
ought to do, and which he would do if he had any real back- 
bone of executive energy, is to strike the avenging blow with 
instant dispatch on the first opportunity. Such an oppor- 
tunity he has, or can make, at almost any time. But to do 
thus would be both a crime and a blunder, and a blunder 
even more than a crime. How shall he justify such a deed 
to the world ? how vindicate himself from the very crime 
which he must allege against another ? For, as he cannot sub- 
poena the Ghost, the evidence on which he is to act is avail- 
able only in the court of his own conscience. To serve any 
good end, the deed must so stand to the public eye as it does 
to his own ; else he will be in effect setting an example of 
murder, not of justice. And the crown will seem to be his 
real motive, duty but a pretence. Can a man of his " large 
discourse looking before and after " be expected to act thus ? 



lvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

We, to be sure, long impatiently to have the crowned 
murderer get his deserts, because the whole truth of his 
guilt is known to us ; but the people of Denmark, Hamlet's 
social and political world, know nothing of it, and can never 
be convinced of it should he proceed in that way. For the 
Ghost's disclosures were made to his ear alone ; nobody else 
heard a word of them ; and is it to be supposed that the 
Ghost's tale will be received on his sole word ? that, too, in 
behalf of an act by which he has cut away the only obstacle 
between himself and the throne ? The very alleging of such 
grounds will be regarded as, if possible, a worse crime than 
that in defence of which they are alleged. To the Danish 
people Hamlet will needs himself appear to be what he 
charges Claudius with being. Claudius is their lawful king ; 
they are his loyal subjects ; they will not suffer their chosen 
ruler to be assassinated with impunity ; they will hold them- 
selves bound to wreak upon Hamlet the very vengeance 
which he claims to have wreaked upon him. Unless he sum- 
mons the Ghost into court as a witness, every man will set 
him down either as a raving maniac, to be held in chains, or 
else as a monstrous liar and villain, who has murdered at 
once his uncle, his mother's husband, and his king, and then 
has trumped up a ghost story in order at the same time to 
shield himself and to blacken his victim. 

Most assuredly, therefore, the deed which the critics in 
question so loudly call for is the very thing of all others which 
Hamlet ought not to do, which he must not do ; which, 
moreover, he cannot do, for the simple reason that he is 
armed with such manifold strength, and is strong in reason, 
in judgment, in right feeling, in conscience, in circumspec- 
tion, in prudence, in self-control, as well as in hand, in courage, 



INTRODUCTION lvii 

in passion, in filial reverence, and in a just abhorrence of the 
King's guilt. That he does not deal the avenging stroke at 
once — than which nothing were easier for him, were he 
not just the strong-willed man that he is ; were he a mere 
roll of explosive, impotent passion, like Laertes — this the 
critics ascribe, some to constitutional or habitual procrasti- 
nation, others to an intellectual activity so disproportionate 
as to quench what little force of will he may have. 

Against all this it may be affirmed that, if Hamlet has any 
one attribute in larger measure than another, it is that very 
power which these critics accuse him of lacking. They see 
no strength of will in him, because, while he has this, he has 
also the other parts of manhood equally strong. Now, the 
main peculiarity, the most distinctive feature of Hamlet's 
case is, that, from the inevitable, pressing, exigent circum- 
stances of his position — circumstances quite beyond his 
mastery, quite beyond all mere human mastery — his strength 
of will has, and must have, its highest exercise, its supreme 
outcome, ill self-restraint and self-control ; an indwelling power 
laying the strong hand of law upon him, and causing him 
to respect the clear, consenting counsels of reason, of pru- 
dence, of justice and conscience, — counsels which his quick, 
powerful, well-poised intellect perfectly understands. 1 And 
the act which these critics require of him, so far from evin- 
cing strength of will, would do just the reverse ; it would 
evince nothing but the impotence of a blind, headlong, furi- 
ous passion, — a transport of rage so violent as to take away 
all that responsibility which everybody understands to adhere 
to a truly voluntary act. In other words, it would be an act 
not so much of executive energy as of destructive fury. 
1 See quotation from Werder given above. 



lviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Some critics talk as if it were a matter solely between 
Hamlet and Claudius, as if the people of Denmark had no 
concern in the question. Hamlet does not see it so. Every 
lover of his kind naturally desires, both in life and in death, 
the good opinion of his kind. This is partly because such 
opinion is an indispensable condition of his serving them. 
And so Hamlet has a just, a benevolent, and an honorable 
concern as to what the world may think of him ; he craves, 
as every good man must crave, to have his name sweet in 
the mouths, his memory fragrant and precious in the hearts, 
of his countrymen. How he feels on this point is shown in 
his dying moments, when he wrenches the cup of poison 
from Horatio's hand and appeals at once to his strong love 
and his great sorrow : 

O good Horatio ! what a wounded name, 

Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me ! 

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, 

Absent thee from felicity awhile, 

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, 

To tell my story. [V, ii, 334-339.] 

Thus Hamlet's hands are inextricably tied, — tied, not 
through any defect, nor through any excess, in himself ; not 
through any infirmity of will or courage or resolution, but 
by the insurmountable difficulties of his situation. It is not 
that an intellectual impetuosity, or a redundancy of thought, 
cripples or in any way retards his powers of action, but 
that the utter impossibility of acting, without covering him- 
self, in all human account, with the guilt of parricide and 
regicide, prodigiously stimulates and quickens his powers of 
thought, and keeps his splendid intellect in an incessant trans- 
port of exercise. And so the very plan of the drama is to 



INTRODUCTION li X 

crush all the intellectual fragrance out of him between a 
necessity and an impossibility of acting. The tremendous 
problem, the terrible dilemma which he has to grapple with, 
is one that Providence alone can solve, as Providence does 
solve it at the last. 

As if on purpose to warn and guard us against imputing 
Hamlet's delay to the cause alleged, Shakespeare takes care 
to provide us with ample means for a different judgment ; 
showing him, again and again, to be abundantly energetic 
and prompt in action whenever the way is clear before him. 
So it is in his resolution to meet and address the Ghost ; in 
his breaking away from the hands of friendship when the 
Ghost beckons him to follow ; in his devising and executing 
the scheme for making the King's " occulted guilt unkennel 
itself"; and especially in his action on shipboard, when he 
sends the King's agents to the fate they have prepared for 
himself. In these cases, as in various others, he discovers 
anything but a defect of active energy ; his mental powers 
range themselves under the leading of a most vigorous and 
steady will. And his conduct appears, moreover, strictly 
normal, and not spasmodic or exceptional ; it is clearly the 
result of character, not of disease. 

Thus much for the reasons of Hamlet's course, as these 
are personal to himself ; but the dramatist had other reasons 
of his own, indispensable reasons of art, for not making 
Hamlet act as the critics would have him. Shakespeare por- 
trays many great criminals, men, and women too, who for 
a while ride in triumph over virtue wronged, persecuted, 
crushed ; and he always brings them to punishment, so far 
as this world can punish them ; but he never in a single in- 
stance does this till their crimes are laid open to the world, 



lx THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

so that all about them recognize the justice of their fate, and 
are righteously glad at what befalls them. In all this Shake- 
speare is profoundly, religiously true to the essential order 
and law of all right tragic representation; for our moral 
nature, as tuned in sympathy with its Source, reaps a deep, 
solemn, awful joy from such vindications of the Divine law. 
Now the very nature and idea of a proper tragic revenge 
or retribution require that the guilty be not put to death till 
their guilt has been proved, and so proved that the killing 
of them shall be manifestly a righteous act, — shall stand to 
the heart and conscience of mankind as an act of solemn 
and awful justice. To such a revenge — the only revenge 
that Hamlet can execute or ought to execute ; the only re- 
venge, too, consistent with the genius of the work — to 
such a revenge, punishment is necessary; to punishment, 
justice is necessary; to justice, the vindication of it in the 
eyes, not merely of the theatre, but of those among whom 
the action takes place. So that, if Shakespeare had made 
Hamlet kill Claudius a moment earlier than he does, he 
would have violated the whole moral law of his art, — that 
law whose " seat is the bosom of God, her voice the har- 
mony of the world." And in that case the tragic action, in- 
stead of being to the persons concerned in any proper sense 
a righteous procedure, instead of appealing to their high 
and sacred sympathies with justice, would be a mere stroke 
of brutal violence, or at the best an act of low, savage, per- 
sonal revenge, — such an act as would inevitably array their 
sympathies with justice against the avenger of crime, and 
enlist them in behalf of the criminal. Thus the proper music 
of the work would be utterly untuned, and for the terrible 
of tragic art would be substituted the horrible of untragic 



INTRODUCTION lxi 

bungling. This were to write tragedies for the coarse theatrical 
sense, for the vulgar apprehension of the crowd before the 
curtain, and not for the inner courts of the human soul ! 

All through the first two acts of the play, and until late in 
the second scene of the third act, Hamlet more or less doubts 
the honesty of the Ghost. The old belief in ghosts held, 
among other things, that evil spirits sometimes walked abroad, 
in the likeness of deceased persons, to scare or tempt the 
living. Hamlet apprehends the possibility of its being so in 
this case. He therefore craves some direct and decisive con- 
firmation of the Ghost's tale from the King's conscience. 
When the advent of the Players is announced, he instantly 
catches at the chance thus offered of testing the question 
and the possibility, if the Ghost's tale be true, of unmasking 
Claudius and of forcing or surprising him into a confession. 
Nothing could evince more sagacity in planning, or more 
swiftness in executing, than the action he takes in pursuance 
of this thought : 

I have heard 
That guilty creatures sitting at a play 
Have by the very cunning of the scene 
Been struck so to the soul that presently 
They have proclaim'd their malefactions ; 
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak 
With most miraculous organ. I '11 have these players 
Play something like the murder of my father 
Before mine uncle : I '11 observe his looks ; 
1 11 tent him to the quick : if he but blench, 
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen 
May be the devil ; and the devil hath power 
T' assume a pleasing shape ; yea, and perhaps 
Out of my weakness and my melancholy, 
As he is very potent with such spirits, 



lxii THE NEW- HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Abuses me to damn me. I '11 have grounds 
More relative than this. The play 's the thing 
Wherein I '11 catch the conscience of the king. 

[II, ii, 575-592.] 

The scheme succeeds. The King's behavior in the play 
fully authenticates to Hamlet, perhaps also to Horatio, the 
Ghost's tale. Hamlet now knows that Claudius is indeed 
guilty, and Claudius also, as Hamlet well understands, 
knows that he knows it. But the evidence thus caught, how- 
ever assuring to Hamlet, is nowise available for the ends of 
social or even dramatic justice ; the Ghost's tale is still just 
as impossible to be proved to the mind and heart of Den- 
mark as it was before. But this advantage has been gained, 
that Claudius must now do one of two things : he must 
either repent and confess, or else he must try to secure him- 
self by further measures ; an attitude merely passive or 
defensive will no longer do. If he does not repent, there is 
henceforth a mortal duel between him and Hamlet ; one or 
the other, or both of them, must go down. As Hamlet lives 
but to avenge the murder, he must neither die himself, nor 
let the King die, till that work is done. 

The result of the play excites Hamlet to the uttermost. 
His faculties, his sensibilities, are all wrought up to their 
highest tension. All on fire as he is he may well say, — 

Now could I drink hot blood, 
And do such bitter business as the day 
Would quake to look on. [Ill, ii, 363-365.] 

In this state of mind he comes upon Claudius while in the 
act of praying. Now he has a fair chance, now in his white- 
heat of rage, to deal the avenging blow; the self -convicted 
fratricide is there, alone, before him, and is completely at his 



INTRODUCTION lxiii 

mercy. All through his frame the blood is boiling ; still his 
reason tells him that such a hit will be a fatal miss, and will 
irretrievably lose him his cause. His judgment, his pru- 
dence, his self-control are assailed and pressed by such an 
overwhelming stress and energy of passion that they are all 
but forced to give way ; so mighty is the impulse of revenge 
within him that even his iron strength of will can hardly 
withstand it, and, to brace his judgment against his passion, 
he has to summon up a counterpoising passion in aid of 
his judgment. Even his inexpressible hatred of the King is 
itself called in to help him through the potent temptation, 
and to keep him from striking the King. This is probably 
the meaning of the dreadful reasons and motives which he 
raves out for sparing Claudius. He will take him while in 
the act of committing such sins as will make sure the perdi- 
tion of his soul. 

Hamlet and his Mother 

Now that Hamlet is, beyond all peradventure, certified of 
the King's guilt, the next thing for him to do is to come to 
a full and perfect understanding with his mother. He must 
see her by herself. He must search her breast to the bot- 
tom, he must " turn her eyes into her very soul," with his 
burning eloquence of indignation, of shame, of reproof, of 
remonstrance, of expostulation ; he must arouse the better 
feelings of the woman and the mother in her heart, and 
through these, if possible, must redeem her from the blasting 
curse of her present position ; above all, he must know from 
her directly, either through her words or her manner, whether 
she was in any way conspirant in the murder, of his father, 
and must also let her know, with an emphasis not to be 



Ixiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

resisted, both his opinion of Claudius and how matters are 
standing between Claudius and himself. While he is on the 
point of doing this ; while, with his soul agitated to its inner- 
most depths, he is talking with her, Polonius on a sudden 
raises an outcry behind the hangings. Hamlet, supposing 
the voice to be the King's, is surprised, snatched, swept 
quite away from himself with a whirlwind gust of passion ; 
instantly, with the speed of lightning, out leaps his sword 
from the scabbard, as of its own accord, and kills the old 
intriguer. 

The Accomplishment of the Revenge 

By this instant lapse of self-control Hamlet has lost his 
lead in the game and given Claudius a great advantage over 
him ; which advantage, however, Claudius will so use as to 
open a clear way for the final triumph of Hamlet's cause, 
though at a fearful cost of life, his own among the rest. 
Claudius is now to assume the offensive, and is so to carry 
it as to achieve his own ruin. For indeed his guilt is of 
such a kind, and is so placed, that it can have its proper 
retribution only through a process of further development. 
A dreadful safety indeed ! But he will prove far unequal to 
the sharp exigency in which he will involve himself. Too 
bad to repent, and too secure in his badness to be reached 
by human avengement, there is, nevertheless, a Hand which 
he cannot elude. That Hand is to work his punishment 
through the springs of his own moral constitution. Hamlet's 
piercing, unsleeping eye, now sharpened to its keenest edge, 
is to be upon him, to penetrate his secretest designs, to trace 
him through his darkest windings, as his evil genius. His 
guilt is to entangle him, by an inward law. in a series of 



INTRODUCTION lxv 

diabolical machinations ; remorse is to disconcert his judg- 
ment, and put him to desperate shifts. Thus his first, most 
secret, unprovable crime is to goad him on, from within, to 
perpetrating other crimes, — crimes so open and manifest 
as to stand in no need of proof ; and he is to go out of the 
world in such a transport of wickedness, lying, poisoning, 
murdering, that " his heels shall kick at heaven." 

Such is the stern, awful, inexorable moral logic of the 
drama. And its great wisdom lies in nothing more than 
in the fact, the order, and the method of the hero's being 
made to serve as the unconscious organ or instrument of the 
providential retribution. He himself, indeed, is consciously 
doing the best that can be done in his situation. Mean- 
while the Nemesis of the play is working out the result 
through him, without his knowing it, without his suspecting 
it. Not till the hand of death is already upon him, does it 
become possible for him to strike. Now, at length, the 
seals are opened ; now, for the first time, his hands are 
untied, his passion, his avenging impulse, his will are set 
free. All this he sees instantly, just as it is ; instantly, con- 
sciously, he deals the stroke. 

Hamlet's Self-Criticism 

To turn Hamlet's solitary self-communings, his thinkings- 
aloud, against himself is hardly fair criticism. Instead of so 
taking him at his word, we ought to see him better than in 
his soliloquies of self-disparagement he seems to see himself, 
and rather, with our calmer and juster vision, to step be- 
tween him and his self-accusings ; to judge him and to main- 
tain his cause upon reasons which he is himself too unselfish, 
too right-hearted, too noble in mind, to accord their due 



lxvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

weight in his thinkings. This holds especially in regard to 
his soliloquy beginning, " O, what a rogue and peasant slave 
am I ! " where he surges through a long course of railing 
and storming at himself, bitterly charging himself with faults 
and vices of which his whole conduct most certainly and 
most clearly acquits him. His intolerable anguish, instead of 
easing itself by blaming, by resenting, by deploring his mis- 
erable lot, seeks such relief as it can by arraigning himself 
before himself. He thus revenges upon himself the inexo- 
rable cruelty of his position. 

The Pathos of Hamlet's Situation 

In his intellectual powers, attainments, resources, Hamlet 
is highly self-conscious ; in his moral instincts, sentiments, 
principles, in his courage, his honor, his reverence, his ten- 
derness, his sense of truth and right, his human-heartedness, 
his generosity, his self-restraint, his self-sacrifice, he is nobly 
unconscious, and rather shows his full, deep possession of 
them by a modest sense or fear of his being deficient in 
them, for these things are apt to be most on the tongue 
where they are least in the heart. Of self-pity, of self-com- 
passion, he discovers not the slightest symptom, and so far 
from saying or doing anything to stir pity or compassion in 
others, he is ever trying, though trying spontaneously and 
unconsciously, to disguise his inward state both from others 
and from himself ; — from himself in high strains of self- 
accusation ; from his true friends in smiles of benevolence, 
or in fine play of intellect ; from his foes and his false friends 
in caustic, frolicsome banter, and in pointed, stinging remon- 
strance or reproof. Even when his anguish is shrieking 
within him, he knits his lips down tight over it, and strangles 



INTRODUCTION lxvii 

the utterance. Hence, in part, the singular vein of pathos 
that permeates the delineation. That pathos is altogether 
undemonstrative, silent; a deep undercurrent, hardly ever 
rising to the surface so as to be directly visible, but kept 
down by its own weight. Hamlet makes little sign when his 
suffering is greatest ; once or twice only a moan escapes 
from him, but so low as scarcely to be heard amidst the 
louder noises of the play, as in what he says to Horatio, near 
the close, V, ii, 203-207 : "Thou wouldst not think how ill 
all 's here about my heart ; but it is no matter ... It is but 
foolery ; but it is such a kind of gain-giving as would per- 
haps trouble a woman." 

The Grave-digging Scene 

The heterogenous, oddly assorted elements that are 
brought together in the grave-digging scene, the strange 
mixture of songs and witticisms and dead men's bones, and 
the still stranger transitions from the sprightly to the medita- 
tive, from the solemn to the playful and the grotesque, make 
up such a combination as only Shakespeare could conceive. 
Here we have the hero's profound discourse of thought, his 
earnest moral reflectiveness, and his most idiomatic humor, 
all working out together. As illustrating his whole character, 
in all its depth and complexity, the scene is one of the richest 
and wisest in the play. 

Laertes 

Laertes makes a very peculiar and most emphatic con- 
trast to Hamlet. We cannot exactly call Laertes a noble 
character, yet he has noble elements in him. . The respect in 
which he holds his father, and the entire and unreserved 



ixviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

affection he bears his sister, set him well in our esteem as a 
son and a brother ; beyond these he can hardly be said to 
show any sentiments or principles worthy of regard. Though 
incapable of anything so serious as friendship, he is never- 
theless a highly companionable fellow. He is never pestered 
with moral scruples ; life has no dark and difficult problems 
to him ; he has no philosophy of life ; truth, as such, is 
neither beautiful nor venerable in his sight ; in his heat and 
stress of destructive impulse, he does not see far enough to 
apprehend any causes for deliberation or delay. In regard to 
the death of his father, he snatches eagerly at the conclusion 
shaped for him by the King, without pausing to consider the 
grounds of it, or to weigh the merits of the case ; and he is 
reckless alike of means and of consequences, in fact cares 
nothing for others or even for himself, here or hereafter, so 
he may quickly ease his breast of the mad rapture with 
which it is panting. He has a burning resentment of per- 
sonal wrongs, real or supposed, but no proper sense of 
justice. 

Claudius 1 

With coarse, sensual elements in his nature, Claudius is 
essentially a strong man. As king he bears himself through- 
out with dignity ; he has a strange power of personal fasci- 
nation, as the Ghost indicates, and the depth and breadth of 
his complex being are revealed in the wonderful prayer solil- 
oquy after the play scene. Shrewd and sagacious, quick and 
fertile of resource, remorseless and unscrupulous, sticking at 
nothing to gain his ends or to secure himself in what he has 

1 A worthy character study of Claudius is given by Tieck in 
Dramaturgische Blatter. 



INTRODUCTION lxix 

already gained, he stands forth a man of power, dramatically 
a great character, formidable from his astuteness, formidable 
from his unscrupulousness, formidable from the powers and 
prerogatives with which he is invested as an absolute king. 
Such as he is, Hamlet knows him thoroughly, understands 
alike his meanness, his malice, and his cunning, and takes the 
full measure both of his badness and of his potency. 

The Ghost 

The Ghost is a powerful element in the drama, shedding 
into it a peculiar and preternatural grandeur. This power 
acts through the finest organs of the soul, working so deeply 
on the moral and imaginative forces that criticism can do 
but little with it. What an air of dread expectancy waits 
upon the coming and the motions of that awful shade ! How 
grave and earnest, yet how calm and composed, its speech, 
as if it came indeed from the other world, and brought the 
lessons of that world in its mouth ! The stately walk, the 
solemn, slowly measured words, the unearthly cast and tem- 
per of the discourse, are all ghostlike. The popular currency 
of many of the Ghost's sayings shows how profoundly they 
sink into our souls, and what a weight of ethical meaning 
attaches to them. Observe, too, how choicely Horatio strikes 
the key-note of the part, and attempers us to its influences : 

What art thou that usurp'st this time of night, 
Together with that fair and warlike form 
In which the majesty of buried Denmark 
Did sometimes march ? [I, i, 46-49.] 

Nowhere is Shakespeare's power as an artist more con- 
spicuous than in the whole matter preparatory to the Ghost's 
interview with Hamlet, its first appearance on the scene, its sad 



Ixx THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

and silent steps, its fading at the crowing of the cock, and 
the subdued reflections that follow, ending with the speech, 

But look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, 
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hilL 

[I, i, 166-167.] 

Horatio 

Horatio is one of the very noblest and most beautiful 
of Shakespeare's characters. At all times superbly self- 
contained and as true as a diamond, he is a most manly 
soul, full alike of strength, tenderness, and solidity. But 
he moves so quietly in the drama that his rare traits of 
character have received scant justice. Much of the best 
spirit and efficacy of the scenes is owing to his presence. 
He is the medium whereby some of the hero's finest and 
noblest qualities are conveyed to us, yet he himself is so 
clear and transparent that he scarcely catches the attention. 
The great charm of his unselfishness is that he seems not 
to be himself in the least aware of it, — " as one, in suffering 
all, that suffers nothing." His mild scepticism " touching the 
dreaded sight twice seen of us " is exceedingly graceful and 
scholarly. And, indeed, all that comes from him marks the 
presence of a calm, clear head, keeping touch and time per- 
fectly with a good heart. 

Polonius 

Polonius is Shakespeare's version, sharply individualized, 
of a politician somewhat past his faculties ; shrewd, careful, 
conceited, meddlesome, and pedantic. " Dotage encroaching 
upon wisdom" is Samuel Johnson's famous characterization 
of him. Hamlet does Polonius some injustice, partly as 
thinking that the old man has wantonly robbed him of his 



INTRODUCTION lxxi 

heart's best object, and not making due allowance, as indeed 
lovers seldom do in such cases, for the honest though per- 
haps erring solicitude of a father's love. Therewithal he 
looks upon him as a supple time-server and ducking observ- 
ant, which indeed he is, of whoever chances to be in power, 
ever ready to " crook the pregnant hinges of the knee where 
thrift may follow fawning." 

Polonius has his mind richly stored with prudential and 
politic wisdom, which, however, shows somewhat absurdly in 
him, because, to use a figure of Coleridge's, it is like a light 
in the stern of a ship, that illumines only that part of the 
course already left behind. Polonius is " knowing in retro- 
spect, and ignorant in foresight." A man of one method, 
political engineering, with his fingers ever itching to work 
the machine of policy, and with little perception of times and 
occasions, he is called . to act where such arts and methods 
are peculiarly unfitting, and so he overreaches himself. 

Polonius has great knowledge of the world, though even 
here his mind has come to rest mainly in generalities. Ac- 
cordingly the pithy maxims he gives Laertes, to " character 
in his memory," are capital in their way ; nothing could be 
better ; yet they are but the well-seasoned fruits of general 
experience and reflection, and there is no apparent reason 
why he should speak them at that time, except that they 
were strong in his mind. One would suppose that in such 
an act of paternal blessing he would try to breathe some 
fire of noble sentiment into his son; whereas he thinks of 
nothing higher than cold precepts of worldly prudence, which 
seem indeed to be the essence of religion with him. And he 
imagines that such thoughts will be a sufficient breakwater 
against the passions of youth ! 



lxxii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Ophelia 1 

The pathetic sweetness of Ophelia " divided from herself 
and her fair judgment" touches the soul with surpassing 
delicacy. But the touch is full of power withal. The vio- 
lence her feelings suffered in the constrained repulse of her 
lover after she had " suck'd the honey of his music vows " ; 
her tender grief at his subsequent condition, which is all the 
greater that she thinks herself the cause of it ; the shock of 
her father's sudden and violent death — the father whom 
she loves with such religious entireness — and this by the 
hand of that same lover, and in consequence of the madness 
into which, as she believes, her own action has cast him ; — - 
all these causes join in producing her lapse of reason, and all 
reappear more or less in what she says and sings afterwards. 
Her insanity is complete, unconscious, and such as, it is said, 
never ends but with the sufferer's death. There is no method 
in it; she is like one walking and talking in her sleep, her 
mind still busy, but its sources of activity all within ; she is 
literally " incapable of her own distress." The verses she 
sings are fragments of old ballads which she had heard in 
her childhood, when she understood not the meaning of 
them, and which had faded from her memory, but are now 
revived just enough for her inward eye to catch the words. 
The character of some of them is surpassingly touching, be- 
cause it tells us, as nothing else could, that she is utterly 
unconscious of what she is saying. The fine threads of asso- 
ciation by which they are now brought to her mind may be 
felt, but cannot be described. And the sweet, guileless, gentle 

1 For a suggestive and penetrating study of Ophelia see Some of 
Shakespeare's Female Characters, by Helena Faucit (Lady Martin). 



INTRODUCTION lxxiii 

spirit of the poor girl casts a tender sanctity over the whole 
expression. 

Ophelia's situation much resembles Imogen's ; their char- 
acters are in marked contrast. Both appear amidst the cor- 
ruptions of a wicked court, and both pass through them 
unhurt ; the one because she knows not of them, the other 
because she both knows and hates them. And the reason 
why Ophelia knows not of them is that her simplicity of 
character makes her susceptive only of that which is simple. 

Gertrude 

The Queen's affection for Ophelia is one of those unex- 
pected strokes of art, so frequent in Shakespeare, which sur- 
prise us into reflection by their naturalness. That Ophelia 
should disclose a vein of goodness in the Queen was neces- 
sary, perhaps, to keep us from misprizing the influence of 
the one and from exaggerating the wickedness of the other. 
The love she thus inspires tells us that her helplessness 
springs from innocence, not from weakness, and so pre- 
vents the pity which her condition moves from lessening 
the respect due to her character. 

Almost any other author would have depicted Gertrude 
without a single alleviating trait. Shakespeare portrays her 
so as neither to disarm censure nor to preclude pity. She 
was not a direct accomplice in the murder of her husband ; 
the evidence is strong that she neither knew of the murder 
nor had any suspicion of it. Dragged along in the terrible 
train of consequences which her own guilt had a hand in 
starting, she is hurried away into the same dreadful abyss 
along with those whom she loves, and against whom she 
has sinned. In her tenderness towards Hamlet and Ophelia 



lxxiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

we recognize the virtues of the mother without in the least 
overlooking the guilt of the wife, while the crimes in which 
she is a partner almost disappear in those of which she is 
the victim. 

IX. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 

Of all Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet probably combines the 
greatest strength and diversity of powers. In Hamlet him- 
self we have little less than the whole science of human 
nature drawn together and condensed. In other respects 
the play is well in keeping with this varied profusion of 
matter in the hero. Sweeping round the whole circle of 
human thought and passion, in its alternations of amaze- 
ment and fear, of lust and ambition and remorse, of hope, 
love, friendship, anguish, madness, and despair, of wit, 
humor, pathos, poetry, and philosophy, now congealing the 
blood with terror, now melting the heart with pity, now 
launching the mind into eternity, now startling conscience 
from her lonely seat with supernatural visitings, — it unfolds 
a world of truth and beauty and sublimity. 

In view of the moral incongruities here displayed, espe- 
cially in the catastrophe, Goethe has the following weighty 
sentence : " It is the tendency of crime to spread its evils 
over innocence, as it also is of virtue to diffuse its bless- 
ings over many who deserve them not ; while, frequently, 
the author of the one or of the other is not punished or 
rewarded." This aptly suggests the moral scope and sig- 
nificance of the drama. From the appalling discrepancies 
involved in such a course of administration, there is, there 
can be, but one refuge. What that refuge is the play does 
not fail to tell us ; and it tells us by the mouth of him who 



INTRODUCTION lxxv 

has most cause to dread what his guilt-burdened conscience 
forecasts so profoundly : 

In the corrupted currents of this world 
Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice ; 
And oft 't is seen the wicked prize itself 
Buys out the law ; but 't is not so above ; 
There is no shuffling, there the action lies 
In his true nature, and we ourselves compell'd, 
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, 
To give in evidence. [Ill, iii, 57-64.] 

X. STAGE HISTORY 

As an acting drama, Hamlet is supreme in the English- 
speaking world ; no play has had and continues to have a 
firmer hold upon the stage. Its history as a play is a history 
of the most notable performances of the great actors of 
Britain and America. In the nineteenth century it con- 
quered the stage of Germany, France, Italy, and Russia, 
when the foremost actors of these countries essayed the 
role of Hamlet the Dane. 

The Seventeenth Century 

The popularity of Shakespeare's Hamlet from the first as 
an acting play is attested by the title-page of the First Quarto 
(see facsimile, page xxvii). The reference to performances 
out of London as well as in London is unique in Quarto title- 
pages. This popularity is further shown by specific references 
to the play as a play from 1607 to 1624. 1 Richard Burbage 
(Burbige, Burbadge), the famous member of the company 
to which Shakespeare belonged, is usually, and on good 

1 For such references, see Ingleby, Centurie of Pray se. 



lxxvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

evidence, regarded as the first of the long and illustrious line 
of stage Hamlets. Apart from the tradition referred to in note, 
V, ii, 277, 1 the nearest contemporary reference to Burbage's 
acting of the part is in the following memorial verses 2 pre- 
served in Folio MS. in the Huth library : 

A Funerall Ellegye on y e Death of the famous Actor Richard Bitrbedg 
who dyed on Saturday in Lent the 13 March 1618. 

hee 's gone & w th him what A world are dead. 

which he reviv'd, to be revived soe, 

no more young Hamlett, ould Heironymoe 

kind Leer, the Greved Moore, and more beside, 

that lived in him ; have now for ever dy'de, 

oft have I seene him, leap into the Grave 

suiting the person w ch he seem'd to have 

of a sadd Lover with soe true an Eye 

that theer I would have sworne, he meant to dye, 

oft have I seene him, play this part in ieast, 

soe lively, that Spectators, and the rest 

of his sad Crew, whilst he but seem'd to bleed, 

amazed, thought even then hee dyed in deed. 

Two other members of the Globe company in Shakespeare's 
time, John Lowin and Joseph Taylor, have been mentioned 
as the first to take the part of Hamlet. The case for Lowin 
was supported by Schlegel and Payne Collier ; the evidence 
for Taylor is this extract from Downes, Roscius Anglica- 
nus : "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Hamlet being performed 
by Mr. Betterton : Sir William s (having seen Mr. Taylor, of 

1 Though short and stout, Burbage had, if we may trust Overbury, 
a musical voice and a " full and significant action of body." 

2 For an account of the various versions, see Ingleby, Shakespeare, 
the Man and the Book. 

3 Sir William D'Avenant (Davenant), Poet Laureate from 1638 
to 1688. 



INTRODUCTION lxxvii 

the Black-Fryars Company, act it ; who being instructed by 
the Author Mr. Shakespear) taught Mr. Betterton in every 
particle of it." Brereton, in Some Famous Hamlets, after 
investigating the claims made for Lowin and for Taylor, 
concludes : " There is no record whatever of Lowin having 
even so much as appeared in the character. Taylor certainly 
acted Hamlet, but he did so after Burbage." The only other 
parts in the original Hamlet performances to which there is 
any significant reference are those of the Ghost and the 
First Gravedigger. Rowe preserves the tradition that Shake- 
speare himself acted the Ghost, and adds that it was " the top 
of his performance." The original First Gravedigger is said 
to have been the famous comic actor Will Kempe (see note, 
III, ii, 41). 

The ' Mr. Betterton ' of the quotation from Downes was 
Thomas Betterton, the great Shakespeare actor of the Res- 
toration. The quotation indicates that D'Avenant was a liv- 
ing link between him and the first interpreters of Hamlet. 
Betterton had marked physical limitations, but his genius, 
dignity, and intellectuality enabled him to hold the stage as 
the foremost actor of his time for more than half a century. 
Pepys saw him act Hamlet on August 24, 1661, 1 when he 
" did the Prince's part beyond imagination"; Steele saw him 
playing the part "with noble ardour" on December 20, 1709. 

Betterton seems to have had always well-balanced sup- 
port. The ' Mistress Saunderson ' who played Ophelia in the 
Restoration days, probably the first woman who took the 

1 Under August 31, 1688, Pepys has another notable entry in his 
Diary : " To the Duke of York's play house, and saw Hamlet which 
we have not seen this year before ; and mightily pleased with it, but 
above all with Betterton, the best part, I believe, that ever man 
acted." 



lxxviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

part, 1 became Mrs. Betterton and continued to play Ophelia 
with charm and distinction till the close of the century. Bar- 
ton Booth won reputation as the Ghost, and such were his 
power and his passion as an actor that he naturally was 
looked upon as Betterton's successor as a Shakespeare in- 
terpreter. Booth rarely (some say, never) played Hamlet, 
but his wife (Miss Santlow) became a famous Ophelia, and 
handed on the tradition of the part to Mrs. Theophilus Cib- 
ber, " the best Ophelia that ever appeared either before or 
since," said Tate Wilkinson, emphasizing the way in which 
she became identified with the part. 

The Eighteenth Century 

Before Betterton's death in 1710, the Hamlet of Robert 
Wilks had won considerable reputation in London, and 
through the first forty years of the eighteenth century Wilks, 
Mills, Ryan, and Millward were the more distinguished inter- 
preters of the part. In 1718-1719 Quin, one of the best 
actors of the time, played Claudius to Ryan's Hamlet at 
Lincoln's Inn Fields, and his impressive interpretation won 
deserved attention. As a rule the part of Claudius is taken 
by an inferior actor, and the subtle balance of the play is 
thus in great measure destroyed. Quin, recognizing the true 
greatness of the part, established a precedent which has too 
often been neglected in later stage representations. 

The year 1742 is noteworthy in the stage history of the 
play. On March 15 Dennis Delane, a young Irishman, 
acted Hamlet at Drury Lane, and was acclaimed as the 

1 " Sir William D'Avenant gave her such an idea of it as he could 
catch from the boy Ophelias he had seen before the Civil Wars." — 
Davies. 



INTRODUCTION lxxix 

greatest interpreter since Betterton. That summer David 
Garrick, over in Ireland, played Hamlet to ' Peg ' Woffing- 
ton's Ophelia, — the part in which she ' came out ' at the 
Theatre Royal, Dublin, in 1734, — and on November 16 he 
appeared as Hamlet in London. The literary and artistic 
world recognized him as the greatest Shakespeare actor of 
the day. In this production of the play, Garrick had worthy 
support with Delane as the Ghost, ' Kitty ' Clive as Ophelia, 
and Mrs. Pritchard as the Queen. Mrs. Pritchard seems to 
have done for the part of the Queen what the genius of 
Quin did for that of the King, and her dignity and pathos 
made the role as important and significant as that of Ophe- 
lia herself. Until 1776, when he took farewell of the stage, 
Garrick remained the foremost interpreter of Hamlet. He 
had at times formidable rivals in Sheridan, Barry, Holland, 
Powell, and others, but his truth to life, his passion, and his 
artistry enabled him to hold his own against all. 1 What 
makes his success seem the more remarkable is that he 
played the part throughout in modern French dress, re- 
sorted to such stage artifices as a trick chair 2 in the closet 
scene, and made unwarrantable alterations in the text and 
the arrangement of the play. 3 

1 Interesting contemporary glimpses of Garrick's Hamlet will 
be found in Lichtenberg's Briefe ans England (for translation see 
Furness's Variorum Ha?nlet, II, 269) and Fielding's account of 
Partridge's visit to the playhouse {Tom Jones, XVI, v). 

2 It collapsed with a crash when Hamlet started up at the appear- 
ance of the Ghost. 

3 " He cut out the voyage to England, and the execution of 
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ; he omitted the funeral of Ophelia, 
and all the wisdom of the Prince and the rude jocularity of the 
gravediggers." — Boaden. 



lxxx THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Five nights before Garrick took his leave of the stage 
he played Richard the Third to the Lady Anne of Sarah 
(Kemble) Siddons, the first of the great Kemble family to 
win distinction in Shakespeare interpretation. Seven years 
later Mrs. Siddons brought her brother, John Philip Kemble, 
to London, and on September 30, 1783, he appeared as 
Hamlet at Drury Lane. The playbill announcement that the 
play would be given as it was originally written by Shake- 
speare x indicated a marked departure from the Garrick pre- 
cedent and tradition. Kemble's Hamlet was an innovation 
and a revelation. The actor, a man of noble figure, gave an 
interpretation that was scholarly and stately throughout. One 
critic sums up his Hamlet in the two words, " sensible, lonely." 
Kemble's diction was slow and measured, with a tendency to 
declamation in the soliloquies. " Too scrupulously graceful," 
" majestic solemnity," — such were some of the more severe 
contemporary judgments. The power and the limitations of 
Kemble are interestingly suggested in Sir Thomas Lawrence's 
portrait of the actor as he stands by the open grave with 
Yorick's skull in his hand. " Perhaps," said Matthew Arnold, 
after indicating the characteristics of the great modern Ham- 
lets, " John Kemble, in spite of his limitations, was the best 
Hamlet after all." To this superb Hamlet Mrs. Siddons in 
1785 played a worthy Ophelia. 2 

1 It is somewhat amusing to find that on the opening night 
Kemble omitted the instructions to the players, " upon the modest 
principle," says Boaden, his biographer, "that he must first be 
admitted a master in the faculty before he presumed to censure 
the faults of others." 

2 Mrs. Siddons seems to have been the first woman to play Hamlet, 
but she essayed the part only two or three times, and in provincial 
theatres, never in London. 



INTRODUCTION lxxxi 



The Nineteenth Century 



During the early years of the nineteenth century the Ham- 
let of Kemble was without a rival. On March 12, 18 14, 
London saw Edmund Kean appear in the part, and his 
passionate energy and intense emotional power soon estab- 
lished an interpretation that was original, unconventional, 
and in every way commanding. Tenderness to -Ophelia, de- 
votion to his mother, and reverential regard for his father's 
memory, were leading ' motives ' in Kean's Hamlet, and 
strongly influenced later interpretations, notably those of 
Macready, Fechter, Edwin Booth, and Henry Irving. 

Hamlet studies by foreign actors have as a rule been 
sturdily independent of the traditions of the English-speaking 
world. Among these great foreign interpretations may be 
mentioned the robust Hamlet of Mounet-Sully in France, 
the intellectual Hamlet of Devrient in Germany, the roman- 
tic Hamlet of Salvini and of Rossi in Italy. 

In the nineteenth century productions Ophelia has usually 
had adequate representation by the best actress available, but 
the modern stage has yet to see full justice done to the parts 
of Gertrude and of Claudius. It may be that the Hamlet of 
the future who will embody both the Werder ideal and " the 
sweetness, the tenderness, and the gentleness " which Mac- 
ready recognized as inherent in the character, will have the 
support of an actor who will interpret the intellectuality, the 
strength, and the fascination of the King, and that of an 
actress who will realize the tragic, pathetic possibilities in 
her for whom the Ghost expresses such tender solicitude 
and infinite regard, — the mother of Hamlet. 



AUTHORITIES 

(With the more important abbreviations used in the notes) 

Qi = First Quarto, 1603. 
Q 2 = Second Quarto, 1604. 
Q 3 — Third Quarto, 1605. 
Q4 = Fourth Quarto, 161 1. 
Q 5 = Fifth Quarto (undated). 
Fi = First Folio, 1623. 
F 2 = Second Folio, 1632. 
Q6 = Sixth Quarto, 1637. 
F 3 = Third Folio, 1664. 
Q (1676) = 'Players' Quarto,' 1676. 
F 4 = Fourth Folio, 1685. 
Ff = all the seventeenth century Folios. 
Rowe = Rowe's editions, 1709, 17 14. 
Pope = Pope's editions, 1723, 1728. 
Theobald = Theobald's editions, 1733, 1740. 
Hanmer = Hanmer's edition, 1744. 
Johnson = Johnson's edition, 1765. 
Capell = Capell's edition, 1768. 
Malone = Malone's edition, 1790. 
Steevens = Steevens's edition, 1793. 

Globe = Globe edition (Clark and Wright), 1864. 
Tschischwitz = Tschischwitz's edition, 1869. 

Clar = Clarendon Press (second) edition (Clark and Wright), 

1871. 
Dyce = Dyce's (third) edition, 1875. 
Furness = H. H. Furness's A New Variorum. Hamlet, 1877. 
Delius = Delius's (fifth) edition, 1882. 
Camb = Cambridge (third) edition (W. A. Wright), 189 1. 
Dowden = Dowden's Arden edition, Methuen & Co. 
Verity = A. W. Verity's edition. 
Chambers = Chambers's Warwick edition. 

Herford = C. H. Herford's The Eversley Shakespeare, 1903. 
Abbott = E. A. Abbott's A Shakespearian Grammar. 
Bradley = A. C. Bradley's Shakespearean Tragedy, 1904. 
Cotgrave = Cotgrave's Dictionarie of the French and English 

Tongties, 161 1. 
Schmidt = Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon. 
Skeat = Skeat's An Etymological Dictionary. 
Murray == A New English Dictionary ( The Oxford Dictionary). 
Century = The Century Dictionary. 

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lxxxvi 



The Essex plot. Rivalry 
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lxxxvii 



DISTRIBUTION OF CHARACTERS 

In this analysis are shown the acts and scenes in which the char- 
acters (see Dramatis Personce, page 2) appear, with the number of 
speeches and lines given to each. 

Note. Parts of lines are counted as whole lines. 







NO. OF 


NO. OF 






NO. OF 


NO. OF 






SPEECHES 


LINES 






SPEECHES 


LINES 


King 


I, » 


7 


93 


Horatio 


I, i 


17 


IOI 




II, ii 


13 


36 




I, ii 


22 


50 




III, i 


6 


40 




I, iv 


13 


26 




III, ii 


5 


7 




I,iv 


14 


14 




III, iii 


4 


5o 




III, ii 


7 


9 




IV, i 


4 


34 




IV, v 


I 


2 




IV, iii 


14 


44 




IV, vi 


4 


23 




IV, v 


IS 


65 




V, i 


10 


11 




IV, vii 


18 


139 




V,ii 


26 


j8 




V, i 
V,ii 


3 


9 






114 


284 




12 


_27 














IOI 


544 


Laertes 


I, ii 


1 


2 


Ham let 


I, ii 


33 


103 




I, iii 
IV, v 


7 
16 


52 
48 




I, iv 


10 


67 




IV, vii 


17 


47 




I, v 


29 


99 




V, i 


6 


18 




II, ii 


58 


270 




V, ii 


15 


35 




III, i 


12 


76 












III, ii 


59 


210 






62 


202 




III, iii 


1 


24 












III, iv 


27 


174 


VOLTIMAND 


I, ii 


1 


1 




IV, ii 


9 


20 




II, ii 


1 


21 




IV, iii 


10 


23 






— 


— 




IV, iv 


7 


47 






2 


22 




V, i 


38 


126 












V,ii 


_5? 


219 


Cornelius 


I, ii 


1 


1 






3Si 


^458 






1 


1 


Polonius 


I, ii 


1 


4 












I, iii 


8 


68 


ROSENCRANTZ 


II, ii 


24 


46 




II, i 


*9 


87 




III, i 


5 


12 




II, ii 


40 


139 




III, ii 


7 


15 




III, i 


4 


23 




III, iii 


2 


14 




III, ii 


10 


!3 




IV, ii 


7 


9 




III, iii 


1 


9 




IV, iii 


3 


4 




III, iv 


3 


_7 




IV, iv 


1 


1 






86 


35° 






49 


IOI 



lxxxviii 



DISTRIBUTION OF CHARACTERS lxxxix 







NO. OF 


NO. OF 






NO. OF 


NO. OF 






SPEECHES 


LINES 






SPEECHES 


LINES 


GUILDENSTERN 


II, ii 


12 


20 


FORTINBRAS 


IV, iv 


2 


8 




III, i 


2 


5 




V, ii 


4 


_£9 




III, ii 


14 


23 






6 


27 




III, iii 


2 


5 












IV, ii 


2 


2 


Captain 


IV, iv 


_7 


12 






32 


55 






7 


12 


OSRIC 


V,ii 


.£5 


_49 


1 Sailor 


IV, vi 


2 


_5 






25 


49 






2 


5 


Gentleman 


IV, v 


_3 


23 


1 Ambassador 


V,ii 


1 


6 






3 


23 






1 


6 


i Priest 


V,i 


2 


.13 


Lord 


V, ii 


3 


_7 






2 


J 3 






3 


7 


Marcellus 


I, i 


16 


45 


Servant 


IV, vi 


1 


1 




I, ii 


6 


6 






— 


— 




I,iv 


6 


8 






1 


1 




I, v 


_9 


_9 


Messenger 


J.V, vii 


2 


_5 






37 


68 






2 


5 


Bernardo 


I, i 


x 9 


34 












I, ii 


_4 


4 


Ghost 


I, v 


13 


89 








III, iv 


1 


6 






23 


38 






14 


95 


Francisco 


I, i 


8 


10 














8 


— 


Queen 


I, ii 


3 


10 






10 




II, ii 


9 


20 


Reynaldo 


II, i 


J3 


J5 




III, i 
III, ii 


3 
3 


9 
3 






13 


15 




III, iv 

IV, i 


25 
3 


47 
12 


i Player 


II, ii 


6 


48 




IV, v 


11 


16 




III, ii 


2 


_3 




IV, vii 


3 


21 






~~ 8 


5i 




V, i 


5 


12 










V, ii 


4 


JL 


Prologue 


III, ii 


1 


_3 






69 


157 






1 


3 


Ophelia 


I, iii 


10 


20 


Player King 


III, ii 


4 


44 




II, i 


5 


28 












III, i 


13 


33 






4 


44 




III, ii 

IV, v 


11 
13 


18 
59 


Player Queen 


III, ii 


_5 
5 


jo 
30 






52 


158 










All 


I, ii 


1 


1 


Lucianus 


III, ii 


1 


6 




III, ii 


1 


1 






1 


6 




V,i 

V, ii 


1 
1 


1 
1 


i Clown 


V, i 


_33 
33 


.9°. 
90 






4 


4 










Danes 


IV, v 


_3 


_j 


2 Clown 


V,i 


12 
12 


18 
18 






3 


3 



THE TRAGEDY OF 
HAMLET 



DRAMATIS PERSON^ 1 



Claudius, King of Denmark. 
Hamlet, son to the late, and 

nephew to the present King. 
Polonius, lord chamberlain. 
Horatio, friend to Hamlet. 
Laertes, son to Polonius. 
Voltimand, 
Cornelius, 
rosencrantz, 2 
Guild en stern, 2 

OSRIC, 

A Gentleman, 
A Priest. 



- courtiers. 



Marcellus,^ „ 

-n o > officers. 

Bernardo, 3 j 

Francisco, a soldier. 

Reynaldo, servant to Polonius. 

Players. 

Two Clowns, grave-diggers. 

Fortinbras, prince of Norway. 

A Captain. 

English Ambassadors. 

Gertrude, 4 Queen of Denmark, 

and mother to Hamlet. 
Ophelia, daughter to Polonius. 



Lords, Ladies, Officers, Soldiers, Sailors, Messengers, and other 

Attendants. 

Ghost of Hamlet's father. 

Scene : Elsinore, Denmark? 



1 Dramatis Persons. Neither Quartos nor Folios give a list of Dra- 
matis Personam. It was first given by Rowe, and his arrangement has been 
followed substantially by all later editors. 

2 See note, II, ii, i. 

8 Bernardo. In the earlier Quartos and in the Folios the name is spelled 
'Barnardo.' 

4 Gertrude. In the Quartos the name is occasionally spelled ' Gertrard.' 

5 Elsinore, Denmark | Elsinoor Rowe | Denmark Globe Camb. 



ACT I 

Scene I. Elsinore. A platform before the castle 

Francisco at his post. Enter to him Bernardo 

Bernardo. Who 's there ? 

Francisco. Nay, answer me ; stand, and unfold yourself. 

Bernardo. Long live the king ! 

Francisco. Bernardo? 

Bernardo. He. 5 

Francisco. You come most carefully upon your hour. 

Bernardo. 'T is now struck twelve ; get thee to bed, 

Francisco. 
Francisco. For this relief much thanks ; 't is bitter cold, 
And I am sick at heart. 

Bernardo. Have you had quiet guard? 

Francisco. Not a mouse stirring. 10 



ACT I. Scene I | Actus Primus. 
Sccena Prima Fi 1 Q2 omits. — Elsi- 
nore Capell I Q2Ff omit. — A plat- 
form . . . Malone | An open Place 
before the Palace Rowe. — Fran- 
cisco . . . Bernardo I Enter Bar- 



nardo and Francisco, two Centinels 
Q2F1. 

1-5. Capell printed as two lines 
of verse, first ending unfold. 

6. carefully Q2F1F2 I chearfully 
F3F4. 



1-3. Francisco is the sentinel on guard and ought to be the 
challenger; hence ' me ' in line 2 is emphatic : Answer me as I have 
the right to challenge you. Bernardo then gives in answer what is 
probably the watchword, " Long live the king ! " Horatio and Mar- 
cellus answer the challenge differently. Bernardo's suppressed ex- 
citement is revealed by this irregularity. So the play opens in an 
atmosphere of agitation and dread. Cf. Francisco's words, line 9. 

3 



4 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

Bernardo. Well, good night. 
If you do meet Horatjo and Marcellus, 
The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste. 

Francisco. I think I hear them. Stand, ho ! Who is there? 

Enter Horatio and Marcellus 

Horatio. Friends to this ground. 

Marcellus. And liegemen to the Dane. 15 

Francisco. Give you good night. 

Marcellus. O, farewell, honest soldier ; 

Who hath reliev'd you? 

Francisco. Bernardo has my place. 

Give you good night. \Exit\ 

Marcellus. Holla ! Bernardo ! 

Bernardo. Say, 

What, is Horatio there ? 

Horatio. A piece of him. 

Bernardo. Welcome, Horatio; welcome, good Mar- 
cellus. 20 

Horatio. What, has this thing appear'd again to-night? 

11-13. As in Q2 I prose in Ff. 17. has my FsF4 I ha's my F1F2 I 

14. ho ! Who is Q2 I who's Ff. hath my Q2. 

16. soldier Ff | souldiers Q2. 21. Horatio 1 Hora. Q2 I Mar. QiFf. 

13. rivals : associates, partners. From Lat. rivalis, rivus. A brook, 
stream, or river, being a natural boundary between proprietors, was 
owned by them in common ; they were partners in the right and use 
of it. From the strifes that would naturally ensue, the partners came 
to be competitors ; hence the modern meaning of ' rivals.' The 1603 
Quarto (Qi) reads ' partners ' here. 

16. Give you : God give you. Cf . Romeo and Juliet, I, ii, 59. 

21. The Folios give to Marcellus. — thing. Cf . Coriolanus, IV, 
v, 122. There is a temperate skepticism, well befitting a scholar, in 



scene i HAMLET 5 

Bernardo. I have seen nothing. 

Marcellus. Horatio says 't is but our fantasy, 
And will not let belief take hold of him 
Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us ; 25 

Therefore I have entreated him along 
With us to watch the minutes of this night, 
That if again this apparition come, 
He may approve our eyes, and speak to it. 

Horatio. Tush, tush, 't will not appear. 

Bernardo. Sit down awhile; 30 

And let us once again assail your ears, 
That are so fortified against our story, 
What we two nights have seen. 

Horatio. Well, sit we down, 

And let us hear Bernardo speak of this. 

Bernardo. Last night of all, 35 

When yond same star that 's westward from the pole 
Had made his course t' illume that part of heaven 

26-27. along With us | along, With 33. two nights have Ff Delius | 

us Q2 I along With vs, Ff . have two nights Q2 Globe Oar Camb. 

Horatio's words. ' Thing ' is the most general and indefinite sub- 
stantive in the language. Observe the gradual approach to what is 
more and more definite. 'Dreaded sight' cuts off a large part of the 
indefiniteness, and ' this apparition ' is a further advance to the par- 
ticular. All is ordered for what Coleridge calls " credibilizing effect." 

29. approve : corroborate. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, I, i, 60. 

33. What : with an account of what. See Abbott, § 252. 

36. pole : pole star. It appears to stand still, while the other stars 
in its neighborhood seem to revolve around it. 

37. his : its. ' Its ' was just creeping into use at the beginning of 
the seventeenth century. It does not occur once in the King James 
version of the Bible as originally printed ; it occurs, ten times in the 
First Folio, generally in the form ' it 's.' 



6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself, 
The bell then beating one, — 

Enter Ghost 

Marcellus. Peace, break thee off ; look, where it comes 
again ! 40 

Bernardo. In the same figure, like the king that 's dead. 

Marcellus. Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio. 

Bernardo. Looks it not like the king? mark it, Horatio. 

Horatio. Most like ; it harrows me with fear and wonder. 

Bernardo. It would be spoke to. 

Marcellus. Question it, Horatio. 45 

Horatio. What art thou that usurp'st this time of night, 
Together with that fair and warlike form 
In which the majesty of buried Denmark 
Did sometimes march? by heaven I charge thee, speak ! 

Marcellus. It is offended. 

Bernardo. See, it stalks away ! 50 

Horatio. Stay ! speak, speak ! I charge thee, speak ! 

[Exit Ghost] 

Marcellus. 'T is gone, and will not answer. 

39. beating Ff | towling Qi. 44. harrows F3F4 I horrowes Q2 I 

40. Enter Ghost Q2 I Enter the harrowes F1F2 I horrors Qi. 
Ghost Ff (after off) . Two lines in Ff . 45. Question Ff | Speake to Q2. 

42. It was believed that a supernatural being could only be spoken 
to with effect by persons of learning, exorcisms being" usually prac- 
ticed by the clergy in Latin. Cf. Much Ado about Nothing, II, i, 264. 

44. harrows. Cf. I, v, 16; Milton, Comus, line 565: "Amaz'd I 
stood, harrow'd with grief and fear." 

45. would be spoke to: wishes to be spoken to. For 'would' see 
Abbott, § 329 ; for ' spoke,' § 343. It is an old belief that a ghost 
cannot speak until it has been spoken to. 

49. sometimes: sometime, formerly. Cf. Henry VIII, II, iv, 181. 



scene I HAMLET 7 

Bernardo. How now, Horatio ! you tremble and look pale ; 
Is not this something more than fantasy? 
What think you on 't? 55 

Horatio. Before my God, I might not this believe 
Without the sensible and true avouch 
Of mine own eyes. 

Marcellus. Is it not like the king? 

Horatio. As thou art to thyself : 
Such was the very armour he had on 60 

When he th' ambitious Norway combated ; 
So frown'd he once, when, in an angry parle, 
He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice. 
'T is strange. 

Marcellus. Thus twice before, and jump at this dead 
hour, 65 

With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. 

Horatio. In what particular thought to work I know not ; 

61. he Q2 I Ff omit. axe F4 Rowe | Polack Pope. 
63. sledded Ff Isleaded Q2. — Po- 65. jump Q2 I just Ff. 

lacks Malone | pollax Q1Q2Q3Q4 | 66. hath he gone by Ff | he passed 

Pollax Q5F1F2Q6 I Polax F 3 I Pole- through Qi. 

57. sensible: appealing to the senses. — avouch: acknowledgment. 

62. angry parle : conference ending in a fight. 

63. smote the sledded Polacks : defeated the sledge-using Poles. 
This is the natural interpretation of this much-disputed expression. 
The metrical assonance and the use of ' Polack ' in II, ii, 75, and IV„ 
iv, 23, strengthen it. The great rival interpretation is: 'brought 
down (in a sudden fit of anger) his pole-axe weighted with a sledge 
or hammer at the back (leaded?).' 

65. jump: just, exactly. Cf. V, ii, 365; Othello, II, iii, 392. In 
Twelfth Night, V, i, 259, 'jump' is used as a verb in the sense of 
* exactly agree': "do cohere and jump That I am Viola." 

67-69. Horatio means that, in his general interpretation of the 
matter, this foreshadows some great evil or disaster to the state, 



8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

But, in the gross and scope of my opinion, 
This bodes some strange eruption to our state. 

Marcellus. Good now, sit down, and tell me, he that 
knows, 70 

Why this same strict and most observant watch 
So nightly toils the subject of the land, 
And why such daily cast of brazen cannon, 
And foreign mart for implements of war ; 
Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task 75 

Does not divide the Sunday from the week. 
What might be toward, that this sweaty haste 
Doth make the night joint-labourer with the day? 
Who is 't that can inform me? 

Horatio. That can I ; 

At least, the whisper goes so. Our last king, 80 

Whose image even but now appear 'd to us, 
Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, 
Thereto prick'd on by a most emulate pride, 

68. my Ff | mine Q2. 73. why Ff | with Q2. 

though he cannot conceive in what particular shape the evil is to 
come. 'Gross and scope' for 'gross scope,' meaning 'general view,' 
is a good example of hendiadys. 

70. Good now. "An interjectional expression denoting acqui- 
escence, entreaty, expostulation, or surprise." — Murray. Cf. The 
Winter' 's Tale, V, i, 19. The Quarto of 1603 (Qi) has a comma after 
'Good,' thus connecting 'now' with 'sit down.' Some interpret 
♦good' here as 'good friends.' 

72. toil?.: makes to toil. — subject: subjects. Cf. I, ii, 2>Z- 

74. mart : traffic. Cf. The Taming of the Shrew, II, i, 329. 

75. impress : impressment. Cf. Troihcs and Cressida, II, i, 107. 
Tschischwitz reads ' imprest,' meaning ' advance pay.' 

77. toward: at hand, imminent. Cf. V, ii, 355. 

83. Who was spurred on thereto by a spirit of emulation. 



scene i HAMLET 9 

Dar'd to the combat ; in which our valiant Hamlet — 

For so this side of our known world esteem 'd him — 85 

Did slay this Fortinbras ; who, by a seal'd compact, 

Well ratified by law and heraldry, 

Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands 

Which he stood seiz'd of, to the conqueror : 

Against the which, a moiety competent 90 

Was gaged by our king ; which had return'd 

To the inheritance of Fortinbras, 

Had he been vanquisher ; as, by the same cov'nant 

And carriage of the article design'd, 

His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras, 95 

Of unimproved mettle hot and full, 

Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there 

88. those Ff I these Q2. 94. article design'd F2F3F4 I Ar- 

89. of Q2 I on Ff . tide designe Fi | article desseigne 
93. cov'nant | Cou'nant Ff | co- Q2Q3 I articles deseigne Q4. 

mart Q2 I compact Q (1676). 96. unimproved | inapproved Qi. 

86. Probably an Alexandrine verse, but see Abbott, § 469. 

87. law and heraldry. Either (1) 'both civil law and the code of 
honour established by the court of chivalry,' or (2) by hendiadys, 
'the law of heraldry.' Challenges and combats were conducted ac- 
cording to an established code, and heralds had full authority. 

89. seiz'd of : possessed of. A legal phrase still in use. 

90. moiety competent : equivalent portion. ' Moiety ' (Fr. moitie, 
Lat. medietas) means literally 'a half,' but Shakespeare seems to use 
the word always in the general sense as here. 

93. Pronounce 'vanquisher' as a dissyllable and 'by the' as a 
monosyllable. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, 'co- 
mart,' the Quarto reading for 'cov'nant,' was adopted in the sense 
of 'joint bargain.' 

94. The import of the document carefully drawn up. 

96. unimproved mettle : high spirit not hitherto turned to good 
account. Cf. Julius Ccesar, II, i, 159. Some interpret 'unimproved' 
as 'unchastened'; others, as 'unimpeached.' 



10 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes, 

For food and diet, to some enterprise 

That hath a stomach in 't ; which is no other — ioo 

As it doth well appear unto our state — 

But to recover of us, by strong hand 

And terms compulsative, those foresaid lands 

So by his father lost : and this, I take it, 

Is the main motive of our preparations, 105 

The source of this our watch, and the chief head 

Of this post-haste and romage in the land. 

Bernardo. I think it be no other but e'en so. 
Well may it sort that this portentous figure 
Comes armed through our watch, so like the king no 

That was and is the question of these wars. 

Horatio. A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye. 
In the most high and palmy state of Rome, 
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, 

98. lawless I lawelesse Q2 I Land- 103. compulsative Ff | compulsa- 

lesse Fi. tory Q2. 

101. As Q2 I And Ff. 108-125. As in Q2 I Ff omit. 

98. Shark'd up : gathered indiscriminately as a shark does food. 
Some interpret ' gathered as a sharker or swindler.' — lawless. The 
Folio reading 'landless' makes good sense here, but seems less 
appropriate. The idea is that Fortinbras has gathered eagerly, 
wherever he could, a band of desperadoes, who were up to any- 
thing bold and adventurous and required no pay but their keep. 

100. stomach. Used here in a double sense involving ' appetite 
for danger' and 'stubborn courage,' as in Julius Ccesar, V, i, 66; 
Henry V, IV, iii, 35. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, III, v, 92. 

107. romage : rummage. It connotes ' ransacking ' and ' turmoil.' 

109. sort. Either (1) 'happen,' 'fall out,' as in 2 Henry VI,\ y 
ii, 107; or (2) 'suit,' 'agree,' as in A Midsummer Night's Dream, 
V, i, 55 : " not sorting with a nuptial ceremony." 



scene i HAMLET II 

The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead 115 

Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets : 

As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, 

Disasters in the sun ; and the moist star, 

Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands, 

Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse : 120 

And even the like precurse of fierce events, 

As harbingers preceding still the fates, 

And prologue to the omen coming on, 

121. fierce Q5Q6 I fearce Q4 I feare Q2Q8. 

115-120. These prodigies are described by Plutarch. In North's 
famous version, so much drawn upon by Shakespeare, is the marginal 
note, " Predictions and foreshews of Caesar's death." Cf. Julius 
Ccesar, I, iii, 9-13, 16-32, etc. 

117. The Cambridge editors and many others assume that a line 
has dropped out here, and hence the grammatical difficulty. There 
have been many attempts at emendation. 

118. Disasters : ominous signs. Murray gives as the original mean- 
ing of disaster " an unfavourable aspect of a star or planet." This- 
astrological significance, now obsolete, was recognized in Shake- 
speare's day. — moist star : the moon. Cf . " nine changes of the 
watery star," The Winter' 's Tale, I, ii, 1. The moon is so called either 
from the dews that attend her shining or, more probably, from her 
influence upon the tides. 

120. doomsday: judgment day. Cf. Matthew, xxiv, 29: "and the 
moon shall not give her light." 

121. precurse : precursor, portent. — fierce : terrible. Applied in 
this way to natural forces, from the fourteenth century onwards. 
Cf. the modern slang use. 

122. harbingers. The original sense of ' harbinger ' is ' one sent in 
advance to provide shelter or lodgings for a man of rank.' Cf. Mac- 
beth, I, iv, 45. The Middle English form, found in Chaucer, is ' her- 
bergeour' (Old Fr. herberg-er). The u is intrusive. Cf. 'passenger,' 
' messenger.' — still : always, continually. 

123. omen : calamity. The thing itself for that which portends it. 



12 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act x 

Have heaven and earth together demonstrated 

Unto our climatures and countrymen. 125 

Re-enter Ghost 

But, soft, behold ! lo, where it comes again ! 

I '11 cross it, though it blast me. Stay, illusion ! 

If thou hast any sound, or use of voice, 

Speak to me ; 

If there be any good thing to be done, 130 

That may to thee do ease and grace to me, 

Speak to me ; 

If thou art privy to thy country's fate, 

Which happily foreknowing may avoid, 

O, speak ! 135 

Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life 

126. Re-enter . . . | Enter Ghost 129-130. One line in Ff. 
Qq I Enter Ghost againe Ff. 131-132. One line in Ff. 

127. [It spreades his armes] Q2 I 134-135. One line in Ff. 
Ff omit. 

125. climatures. Either (1) 'climates,' ' regions,' though the singu- 
lar, as adopted by Dyce into the text, would seem more natural ; or 
(2) "those who live under the same climate." — Clar. 

127. It was believed that a person crossing the path of a spirit 
became subject to its malign influence. In his Illustrations of Eng- 
lish History, Lodge, speaking of Ferdinando, Earl of Derby, who 
died in 1594 by witchcraft, as was supposed, has the following: 
"On Friday there appeared a tall man, who twice crossed him 
swiftly ; and when the bewitched earl came to the place where he 
saw this man, he fell sick." 

134. happily foreknowing : haply foreknowledge ; or, less satisfac- 
torily, ' happily,' may be interpreted ' luckily,' ' fortunately.' 

136-137. Cf. Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, II, i, 26-27 : 

Spirits and ghosts that glide by night 

About the place where treasure hath been hid. 



scene I HAMLET 13 

Extorted treasure in the womb of earth, 

For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death, 

\_The cock crows\ 
Speak of it ; stay, and speak ! Stop it, Marcellus. 

Marcellus. Shall I strike at it with my partisan? 140 

Horatio. Do, if it will not stand. 

Bernardo. 'T is here ! 

Horatio. 'T is here ! 

Marcellus. 'T is gone! [Exit Ghost] 

We do it wrong, being so majestical, 
To offer it the show of violence ; 

For it is, as the air, invulnerable, 145 

And our vain blows malicious mockery. 

Bernardo. It was about to speak when the cock crew. 

Horatio. And then it started like a guilty thing 
Upon a fearful summons. I have heard, 
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn, 150 

Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat 
Awake the god of day ; and at his warning, 
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, 
Th' extravagant and erring spirit hies 

138. [ The cock crows] Q2 ! Ff omit. 150. morn | Morne Q2 I morning; 

140. at it Ff I Q2 omits. Ql | day Ff. 

140. partisan : halberd, pike. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, I, i, 80. 

150. trumpet: trumpeter. Cf. Henry V, IV, ii, 61. In England's 
Parnassus, 1600, is " the cocke, the morning's trumpeter." 

154. extravagant : wandering beyond bounds. Cf. Othello, I, i, 137 ; 
Love 's Labour 's Lost, IV, ii, 68. — erring : straying. Both ' extrava- 
gant ' and ' erring ' are used strictly in the etymological sense. 
Words immediately derived from Latin are often used by Shake- 
speare in a signification peculiarly close to the root notion. Cf. 
Abbott, Introduction, § 8. 



14 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

To his confine : and of the truth herein 155 

This present object made probation. 

Marcellus. It faded on the crowing of the cock. 
Some say, that ever 'gainst that season comes 
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, 
The bird of dawning singeth all night long; 160 

And then, they say, no spirit can walk abroad ; 
The nights are wholesome ; then no planets strike, 
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm ; 
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time. 

Horatio. So have I heard, and do in part believe it. 165 

158. say Q2 I sayes Ff. 163. takes Q2 I talkes F1F2 1 talks 

160. The Ff I This Q2. F3F4. — nor F1F2F3 I no F4. 

161. can walk Ff Delius | dare 164. hallow'd F1F2F4 I hallowed 
sturre Q2 I dare stir Globe Camb. Q2 I hollow'd F3. — the Ff | that Q> 

155. confine : appointed domain. The belief expressed in lines 
150-155, 157-164, was strong in early Christian and mediaeval times. 
In his Illustrations of Shakespeare, Douce quotes Latin hymns by 
Prudentius and by St. Ambrose, of which these passages in the text 
are virtually paraphrases. 

156. probation : proof. Cf. Macoet/i, III, 1,80; Measure for Measure^ 
V, i, 157; Cymbeline, V, v, 362. Here 'probation' must be pro- 
nounced as a quadrisyllable. 

161. " The Quarto ' stir ' has not the special ghostly significance 
of 'walk,' which is frequent in Shakespeare." — Dowden. 

162. strike: exert malign influence. Cf. Coriolanus, II, ii, 117; 
Titus Andronicus, II, iv, 14. Another astrological allusion. 

163. takes: blasts, infects, smites with disease. Cf. King Lear, II, 
iv, 166 (adjective); III, iv, 61 (noun). So in The Merry Wives of 
Windsor, IV, iv, 30-32, it is told how Heme, the hunter, 

Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight, 

Walk round about an oak, with great ragg'd horns ; 

And there he blasts the tree and takes the cattle. 

Cf. ' taking,' a provincialism for ' infectious.' 

164. gracious : blessed, full of grace. Cf. V, ii, 85. 



scene II HAMLET 15 

But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, 

Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill. 

Break we our watch up ; and, by my advice, 

Let us impart what we have seen to-night 

Unto young Hamlet ; for, upon my life, 170 

This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. 

Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it, 

As needful in our loves, fitting our duty? 

Marcellus. Let 's do 't, I pray ; and I this morning know 
Where we shall find him most conveniently. \Exeunt\ 175 

Scene II. A room of state in the castle 

Flourish. Enter the King, Queen, Hamlet, Polonius, 
Laertes, Voltimand, Cornelius, Lords, and Attendants 

King. Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death 
The memory be green, and that it us befitted 
To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom 

167. eastern Ff | eastward Q2 Flourish Cj2|Ff omit. — Enter... 

Globe Camb. Malone I Enter Claudius King of 

175. conveniently Ff | conuenient Denmarke, Gertrude the Queene, 

Q2. Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes, and his 

A room . . . castle | Ff omit. sister Ophelia, Lords Attendant Fi. 

166-167. Cf. Milton, Paradise Lost, V, 1-2 : 

Now morn her rosy steps in th' eastern clime 
Advancing, sowed the earth with orient pearl. 

These last three speeches are admirably conceived. The speakers 
are in a highly kindled state ; when the Ghost vanishes, their terror 
subsides into an inspiration of the finest quality, and their intense 
excitement, as it passes off, finds expression in a subdued and pious 
rapture of poetry. 

2. that. Often used instead of repeating ' though.' ' That ' is 
common in Shakespeare as a conjunctional affix. See Abbott, § 287. 



l6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

To be contracted in one brow of woe, 

Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature, 5 

That we with wisest sorrow think on him, 

Together with remembrance of ourselves. 

Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, 

Th' imperial jointress of this warlike state, 

Have we, as 't were with a defeated joy, — 10 

With one auspicious and one dropping eye, 

With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage, 

In equal scale weighing delight and dole, — 

Taken to wife; nor have we herein barr'd 

Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone 15 

With this affair along. For all, our thanks. 

Now follows that you know : young Fortinbras, 
Holding a weak supposal of our worth, 

8. sometime Q2 I sometimes Ff. 17. know : young Walker conj. | 

9. of Ff I to Q2. know, young Theobald Camb | knowe 
11. one . . . one Ff | an . . . a Q2. young Q2 I know young Ff. 

9. jointress. ' Dowager.' — Schmidt. ' Joint-possessor.' — Clar. 
But may not ' heiress ' be the meaning here ? If so, Shakespeare 
follows the history which represents the former king to have come 
to the throne by marriage, so that whatever of hereditary claim 
Hamlet has to the crown is in right of his mother. 

10. defeated: frustrated. Cf. Othello, IV, ii, 160. In Othello, I, 
iii, 346, 'defeat' means 'disfigure.' 

11. Cf. The Winter 's Tale,V, ii, 80-82. There is an old saying, 
"To laugh with one eye and to cry with the other." 

16. Note the strained, elaborate, and antithetic style of the king's 
speech thus far. There is more in it than the mere formality which 
befits a speech from the throne. As he is shamming and playing the 
hypocrite, he naturally tries how finely he can word his duplicity. In 
what follows he speaks like a man, his mind moving with simplicity 
and directness as soon as he comes to plain matters of business. 

17. that : that which. For omission of relative, see Abbott, § 244. 



scene ii HAMLET 1 7 

Or thinking by our late dear brother's death 

Our state to be disjoint and out of frame, 20 

Colleagued with the dream of his advantage, 

He hath not fail'd to pester us with message, 

Importing the surrender of those lands 

Lost by his father, with all bonds of law, 

To our most valiant brother. So much for him. 25 

Now for ourself and for this time of meeting. 

Thus much the business is : we have here writ 

To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras, — 

Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely hears 

Of this his nephew's purpose, — to suppress 30 

His further gait herein ; in that the levies, 

The lists, and full proportions, are all made 

Out of his subject ; and we here dispatch 

You, good Cornelius, and you, Voltimand, 

For bearers of this greeting to old Norway ; 35 

Giving to you no further personal power 

To business with the king, more than the scope 

ax. the Ff | this Q2. 26. meeting. | meeting, Q2 I meet- 

24. bonds Ff I bands Q2. ing : F4 Camb | meeting F1F2F3. 

25. Enter Voltemand {Voltimand 31. gait Capell I gate Q2 Ff. 
F2F3F4) and Cornelius Ff. 35. bearers Q2 I bearing Ff . 

20. disjoint. For interesting examples of the participial -^omitted 
after d and f, see Abbott, § 342. 

21. ' Colleagued ' does not refer to, or agree with, ' Fortinbras,' 
but with ' supposal,' or rather with the whole sense of the three pre- 
ceding lines. So that the meaning is, His supposal of our weakness, 
or of our unsettled condition, united with his expectation of superi- 
ority to us. 

23. Importing: having for import. Abbott interprets 'importuning.' 
31. gait : proceeding, course, progress. — in that : inasmuch as. 
37. To business : for the purpose of negotiating. See Abbott, § 186. 



18 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Of these dilated articles allow. 

Farewell, and let your haste commend your duty. 

Cornelius. "I _ . , „ ' . 

} In that and all things will we show our duty. 

VOLTIMAND. J J 

King. We doubt it nothing : heartily farewell. 41 

[Exeunt Voltimand and Cornelius] 
And now, Laertes, what 's the news with you ? 
You told us of some suit; what is 't, Laertes? 
You cannot speak of reason to the Dane, 
And lose your voice ; what wouldst thou beg, Laertes, 45 
That shall not be my offer, not thy asking? 
The head is not more native to the heart, 
The hand more instrumental to the mouth, 
Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father. 
What wouldst thou have, Laertes ? 

Laertes. Dread my lord, 50 

Your leave and favour to return to France ; 

38. dilated Ff | delated Q2. 41. [Exeunt . . .] F4 I Exit . . .] Fi 

40. Cornelius. Voltimand | F2F3 I Q2 omits. 
Cor. Vo. Q2 I Volt. Ff. 50. Dread my Ff | My dread Q2. 

38. dilated : explained in full, " set out at large." — Herford. The 
Quartos read 'delate' (the Quarto of 1603, 'relate'), which some 
interpret as ' conveyed,' ' carried.' — allow. The verb is attracted 
into the plural by the nearest substantive. Cf. Julius C<zsar, V, i, 33 : 
" The posture of your blows are yet unknown." 

44-45. of reason : what is reasonable. — lose your voice : waste 
your breath, or your words, i.e. ask in vain. 

47-49. native : naturally related. The various parts of the body 
are not more allied, more necessary, to each other than is the king 
of Denmark bound to your father to do him service. 

50. Dread my lord : my dread lord. Cf. such Shakespearian inver- 
sions as ' good my lord ' {2 Henry IV, II, i, 69 ; The Tempest, IV, i, 
204), 'sweet my mother' {Romeo and Juliet, III, v, 200). 



scene ii HAMLET 1 9 

From whence though willingly I came to Denmark, 

To show my duty in your coronation, 

Yet now, I must confess, that duty done, 

My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France, 55 

And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon. 

King. Have you your father's leave ? What says Polonius ? 

Polonius. He hath, my lord, wrung from me my slow leave 
By laboursome petition, and at last 

Upon his will I seal'd my hard consent ; 60 

I do beseech you, give him leave to go. 

King. Take thy fair hour, Laertes ; time be thine, 
And thy best graces spend it at thy will ! 
But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son, — 

Hamlet. \Aside\ A little more than kin, and less than 
kind. 65 

55, 112. toward Q2 I towards Ff. consent Q2 I Ff omit. 

57. Two lines in Ff. 59. at last | at the last Pope. 

58-60. wrung from . . . hard 65. [A side] Theobald IQaFf omit. 

56. pardon : permission to depart. Cf. Ill, ii, 293. 

62-63. Take an auspicious hour, Laertes ; be your time your own, 
and your best virtues guide you in spending of it at your will. 

64. From the fourteenth century to the eighteenth ' cousin ' was 
used to describe any collateral relative more distant than a brother 
or sister. In Twelfth Night, I, iii, 5, it means 'niece'; in the same 
play, III, iv, 68, it means ' uncle '; in Richard II, I, iv, it is used in 
the strict modern sense of ' cousin-german.' 

65. It is significant that Hamlet's first line in the play should be 
an 'Aside' and should contain a play upon words. The king is "a 
little more than kin " to Hamlet, because in being at once his uncle 
and his stepfather he is twice kin. He is "less than kind" (pro- 
nounced kinn'd in Shakespeare's day), for not only has he no affec- 
tion for Hamlet, but his incestuous marriage, as Hamlet views it, is 
against ' kind,' or ' nature.' ' Kind ' in this sense occurs often in 
Shakespeare. 



20 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

King. How is it that the clouds still hang on you? 

Hamlet. Not so, my lord ; I am too much i' th' sun. 

Queen. Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, 
And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. 
Do not for ever with thy vailed lids 70 

Seek for thy noble father in the dust. 
Thou know'st 't is common ; all that lives must die, 
Passing through nature to eternity. 

Hamlet. Ay, madam, it is common. 

Queen. If it be, 

Why seems it so particular with thee? 75 

Hamlet. Seems, madam ! nay, it is ; I know not ' seems.' 
'T is not alone my inky cloak, good mother, 
Nor customary suits of solemn black, 
Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath, 
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, 80 

Nor the dejected haviour of the visage, 

67. so Ff I so much Q2. 72. lives Q2F1 1 live F2F3F4. 

68. nighted Q2 I nightly Ff . 77. good mother Ff | coold mother Q2 

67. Hamlet seems to have a twofold, perhaps a threefold, mean- 
ing here. First, he intends a sort of antithesis to the king's question ; 
second, as Johnson suggested, he probably alludes to the old pro- 
verbial phrase of being 'in the sun,' or 'in the warm sun,' which 
used to signify the state of being without the charities of home and 
kindred, — exposed to the social inclemencies of the world. Cf. King 
Lear, II, ii, 168-169. Hamlet regards himself as exiled from these 
charities, as having lost both father and mother. Again, it is not im- 
probable that he intends a sarcastic quibble between 'sun' and 'son/ 

68. nighted: dark as night. Cf. King Lear, IV, v, 13. 

69. Denmark: king of Denmark. Cf. 'England,' King John, III, iv, 8. 

70. vailed: cast down. Cf. The Merchant oj "Venice, 1,1,28: "Vailing 
her high top lower than her ribs." 

72. Cf. The Tempest, II, i, 3-6 ; Tennyson. In Memoriam, vi, 2-8, 



scene II HAMLET 21 

Together with all forms, moods, shows of grief, 

That can denote me truly ; these indeed seem, 

For they are actions that a man might play : 

But I have that within which passeth show ; 85 

These but the trappings and the suits of woe. 

King. 'T is sweet and commendable in your nature, 
Hamlet, 
To give these mourning duties to your father : 
But, you must know, your father lost a father ; 
That father lost, lost his ; and the survivor bound, 90 

In filial obligation, for some term 
To do obsequious sorrow : but to persever 
In obstinate condolement is a course 
Of impious stubbornness ; 't is unmanly grief ; 
It shows a will most incorrect to heaven, 95 

A heart unfortified, a mind impatient, 
An understanding simple and unschooFd : 
For what we know must be and is as common 
As any the most vulgar thing to sense, 

82. moods Ff I modes Q (1695) 85. passeth Ff | passes Q2. 
Capell Delius. — shows | shewes 87. Two lines in Ff. 

F1F2 I shews F3F4 I shapes Q4Q5Q6 90. lost, lost Ff | dead, lost Qi. 

Globe Camb | chapes Q2Q3. 92. persever | persevere F4. 

83. denote Ff | deuote Q2. 96. a mind Ff | or minde Q2. 

82. The ' shows ' of the Folios is more satisfactory than the 
' shapes ' of the Quartos. Hamlet is contrasting the appearance 
with the reality, and, as Furness points out, the 'show* of line 85 
is an intentional and emphatic repetition of the 'shows' of this line. 

92. obsequious : " dutiful in performing funeral obsequies or mani- 
festing regard for the dead." — Murray. Cf. Titus Andronicus, V, 
iii, 152. — persever. In Shakespeare always accented on the penult. 
So in Macbeth, IV, iii, 93, Troilus and Cressida, III, iii, 150, 'per 
severance ' is accented on the second syllable. 

95. incorrect: unchastened, undisciplined, contumacious. 



22 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE ACT I 

Why should we in our peevish opposition ioo 

Take it to heart? Fie ! 'tis a fault to heaven, 

A fault against the dead, a fault to nature, 

To reason most absurd ; whose common theme 

Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried, 

From the first corse till he that died to-day, 105 

'This must be so.' We pray you, throw to earth 

This unprevailing woe, and think of us 

As of a father; for let the world take note, 

You are the most immediate to our throne, 

And with no less nobility of love no 

Than that which dearest father bears his son 

Do I impart toward you. For your intent 

In going back to school in Wittenberg, 

107. unprevailing: unavailing (Hanmer's suggested emendation). 

109. As the throne of Denmark was elective (V, ii, 65), Professor 
Griffin suggests that this is a sop thrown to Hamlet to soothe his 
wounded feelings. 

no. nobility of love : a distinguished degree of love. 

112. Do I impart toward you. The construction here is confused, 
'impart' having no object. Dowden suggests that it may be a case 
of the absorption of ' it ' by the t of ' impart.' Johnson took 'impart' 
as used intransitively in the sense of ' impart myself.' Badham, read- 
ing 'nobility, no less of love ' in line no, secured a definite object 
to 'impart,' but with this reading 'nobility' would have to be under- 
stood as meaning the honor of being heir presumptive. Most proba- 
bly, as Delius suggests, 'no less nobility of love' is the true object, 
the ' with ' being forgotten before the main verb is introduced. 

113. school in Wittenberg. Luther had made the ' High School,' 
or University, of Wittenberg, famous all over Europe. ' Fair Werten- 
berg' is the scene of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, and is mentioned 
more than once in Elizabethan literature as an important foreign 
school of learning, one to which students might go at any age to 
pursue high study. As Wittenberg University was founded in 1502, 



scene II HAMLET 23 

It is most retrograde to our desire ; 

And we beseech you, bend you to remain 115 

Here in the cheer and comfort of our eye, 

Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son. 

Queen. Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet : 
I pray thee, stay with us ; go not to Wittenberg. 

Hamlet. I shall in all my best obey you, madam. 120 

King. Why, 't is a loving and a fair reply ; 
Be as ourself in Denmark. Madam, come ; 
This gentle and unforc'd accord of Hamlet 
Sits smiling to my heart : in grace whereof, 
No jocund health that Denmark drinks to-day, 125 

But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell, 
And the king's rouse the heavens shall bruit again, 
Re-speaking earthly thunder. Come away. 

[Flourish. Exeunt all but Hamlet] 

Hamlet. O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, 

119, pray thee Q2 I prythee Fi. 129. Scene III Pope. — too too Ff 

128. {Flourish . . .] Q2 I Exeunt. | too-too Pope | too, too Jennens. — 
Hamlet manet Ff. solid Ff| sallied Q2 1 sullied Anon conj. 

there is a characteristic Shakespearian anachronism, although dra- 
matic fitness, in mentioning it here. Cf. the use of ' school ' for 
' university,' to which those of mature years might go, in As You 
Like It, I, i, 6: "My brother Jaques he keeps at school." 

114. retrograde : contrary. Originally an astrological term, and 
used as such in All V Well that Ends Well, I, i, 212. 

127. rouse : deep draught, a beaker drunk to one's health. Cf. 
Othello, II, iii, 66. — bruit again : echo, reverberate. Cf . Macbeth, 
V, vii, 22. See Skeat and also Murray for interesting theories as to 
the etymology of ' bruit.' 

129. ' Too too,' as in the text, is more emphatic, by intensive re- 
duplication, than Pope's 'too-too.' — solid. Furnivall defends the 
'sallied ' of the Quartos, interpreting it as ' violently assailed/ 



24 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Thaw and resolve itself into a dew ! 130 

Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd 

His canon 'gainst self- slaughter ! O God ! O God ! 

How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable 

Seem to me all the uses of this world ! 

Fie on 't ! O fie ! 't is an unweeded garden, 135 

That grows to seed ; things rank and gross in nature 

Possess it merely. That it should come to this ! 

But two months dead ! nay, not so much, not two : 

So excellent a king ; that was, to this, 

Hyperion to a satyr ; so loving to my mother 140 

132. God ! God ! Ff I O God, F2 I Seems F3F4. 
God Q2. 135. fie ! I ah fie Q2 I Oh fie, fie 

134. Seem | Seeme Q2 1 Seemes Fi Fi. 

130. resolve : dissolve. The three words ' melt,' ' thaw,' and ' re- 
solve,' all signifying the same thing, have a strangely impressive effect. 
132. Cf. Cymbeline, III, iv, 77-80 : 

Against self-slaughter 
There is a prohibition so divine 
That cravens my weak hand. 

" Unless it be the sixth commandment, the ' canon ' must be one of 
natural religion." — Bishop Wordsworth, Shakespeare's Knowledge 
and Use of the Bible. 

137. merely : completely, wholly. Cf. The Tempest, I, i, 59 ; As 
You Like It, III, ii, 420. So ' mere ' (Lat. merus, ' pure,' ' unmixed,' 
' unqualified ') in the sense of ' absolute ' in The Merchant of Venice, 
III, ii, 265; Othello, II, ii, 3. Hamlet's brooding melancholy leads 
him to take a morbid pleasure in making things worse than they are. 

140. For a suggestive note on the scansion of this line see Abbott, 
§ 501. — Hyperion. In Greek and Latin the accent is on the penult; 
in Spenser, Shakespeare, Gray, and Keats, on the antepenult. Hy- 
perion was a Titan, son of Uranus and Gaea, and father of Helios, the 
sun god, Selene, and Eos. Homer {Odyssey, I, 8) uses the name as 
a patronymic for Helios himself, who was always represented as a 
strong and beautiful youth, with heavy, waving curls (III, iv, 56). 



scene ii HAMLET 25 

That he might not beteem the winds of heaven 

Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth ! 

Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, 

As if increase of appetite had grown 

By what it fed on ; and yet, within a month — 145 

Let me not think on 't — Frailty, thy name is woman ! — 

A little month, or ere those shoes were old 

With which she follow'd my poor father's body, 

Like Niobe, all tears, — why, she, even she — 

O God ! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, 150 

Would have mourn'd longer — married with my uncle, 

My father's brother ; but no more like my father 

Than I to Hercules. Within a month ; 

Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears 

141. beteem | beteeme Q2 I beteene 150. God Q2 | O Heauen Ff. 
F1F2 I beteen F3 I between F4. 151. my Q2 Globe Delius | mine Ff . 

It was not until later times that he was identified with Apollo. 
Shakespeare mentions ' Hyperion ' six times, ' Apollo ' twenty-three 
times. — to : by the side of, in comparison with. Cf. I, v, 52 ; III, i, 52. 
141. beteem : permit. A rare use of the word. Cf . Golding, Ovid's 
Metamorphoses (published 1587): 

Yet could he not beteeme 
The shape of anie other bird then egle for to seeme. 

147. or ere. ' Or 'here is an old form of 'ere' (cf. ' Or ever,' line 183), 
and the reduplication is similar to that in ' and if ' (usually printed 
'an if '). For a discussion of the conjecture that 'ere' is a corruption 
of 'e'er,' see Abbott, § 131. 

149. Niobe's children were slain by Apollo and Artemis, and 
Jupiter transformed the weeping mother into a rock on Mount 
Sipylus in Lydia. 

150. discourse of reason: discursive reason, reasoning power. In old 
philosophical language, ' the faculty of pursuing a train of thought, 
or of passing from thought to thought in the way of inference and 
con elusion.' 



26 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, 155 

She married. O, most wicked speed, to post 

With such dexterity to incestuous sheets ! 

It is not nor it cannot come to good : 

But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue ! 

Enter Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo 

Horatio. Hail to your lordship ! 

Hamlet. I am glad to see you well : 160 

Horatio, — or I do forget myself. 

Horatio. The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever. 
Hamlet. Sir, my good friend ; I '11 change that name 
with you : 

155- in Q2 Globe Delius | of Ff. lus, and Bernardo Q2 I Barnard, 

159. break my Q2F1F2F3 I break, and Marcellus Ff. 

my F4 Globe Delius. 161. Horatio, — Theobald | Hora- 

160. Scene IV Pope. — Marcel- tio, Ff. 

155. flushing : redness. But Clar suggests that the verb ' flush ' 
may here be used in the sense of 'fill with water.' — galled. Cf. 
Richard III, IV, iv, 53 ; Troihts and Cressida, V, iii, 55 ; 'eye-offend- 
ing brine,' Twelfth Night, I, i, 30. 

157. dexterity: adroitness. S. Walker suggested reading 'celerity,' 
but ' dexterity' in Elizabethan literature often implies sharp practice. 
Clar interprets ' dexterity ' here as synonymous with ' celerity.' In 
1 Henry IV, II, iv, 286, occurs ' quick dexterity.' 

159. break. "A subjunctive, not an imperative, and 'heart' is a 
subject, not a vocative." — Corson. So the punctuation of the First 
Folio would indicate ; but Globe, Clar, Delius, and Camb follow the 
punctuation of the Fourth Folio. 

160. "I am glad to see you well" is a conventional greeting. 
Hamlet is preoccupied and does not at first recognize Horatio. 

163. Hamlet's unfailing and ever graceful courtesy is one of his 
characteristics. This line may be paraphrased, No, not my poor 
servant ; we are friends ; that is the style I will exchange with you. 



scene ii HAMLET 27 

And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio ? — 
Marcellus? * 165 

Marcellus. My good lord — 

Hamlet. I am very glad to see you. \_To Bernardo], 
Good even, sir. 
But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg? 

Horatio. A truant disposition, good my lord. 

Hamlet. I would not hear your enemy say so; 170 

Nor shall you do mine ear that violence, 
To make it truster of your own report 
Against yourself ; I know you are no truant. 
But what is your affair in Elsinore? 
We '11 teach you to drink deep ere you depart. 175 

Horatio. My lord, I came to see your father's funeral. 

Hamlet. I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow-student ; 
I think it was to see my mother's wedding. 

Horatio. Indeed, my lord, it follow'd hard upon. 

166. lord — Rowe Globe Delius 1 175. to drink deep Ff | for to 
lord. Qj2Ff I lord ? Camb. drinke Q2. 

170. hear Q2 I haue Ff. 177. I pray thee Fi | I prythee F2 

171. mine Ff | my Q2. 1 1 prithee F3F4 I I prethee Q2. 

172. make Fi | take F2F3F4. 178. see Ff | Q2 omits. 

164. make : do. Cf. II, ii, 266. Shakespeare puns on the two 
senses of the word, ringing the changes on 'make' and 'mar' in 
As You Like It, I, i, 31-32; Love's Labour's Lost, IV, iii, 190-192; 
Richard III, I, iii, 164-165. 

167. The words, ' Good even, sir,' are evidently addressed to Ber- 
nardo, whom Hamlet has not before known ; but as he now meets 
him in company with old acquaintances, like the true gentleman 
that he is, he gives him a salutation of kindness. Marcellus has 
said before of Hamlet, " I this morning know where we shall find 
him." But ' good even ' was the common salutation after noon. 

171. For the use of ' that ' for 'such' and the omission of 'as' 
see Abbott, § 277. Cf. I, v, 48. 



28 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act l 

Hamlet. Thrift, thrift, Horatio ! the funeral bak'd-meats 
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. 181 

Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven 
Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio ! 
My father, — methinks I see my father. 

Horatio. O where, my lord? 

Hamlet. In my mind's eye, Horatio. 185 

Horatio. I saw him once ; he was a goodly king. 

Hamlet. He was a man, take him for all in all, 
I shall not look upon his like again. 

Horatio. My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. 

Hamlet. Saw? who? 190 

Horatio. My lord, the king your father. 

183. Or ever I had Q2 I Ere I had 185. where Ff J Where Q2. 

euer Ff | Ere ever I had Qi. 190. Saw? who? Ff | Saw, who Q2. 

180. funeral bak'd-meats. ' Bakt-meats ' is the Folio spelling. 
'Bake-meat' or 'bakemeat' (cf. Genesis, xl, 17) is an old name for 
'pastry' or 'a pie.' Scott in The Bride of Lamm er moor, Chapter II, 
and elsewhere, has made the readers of romance familiar with the 
custom of 'funeral bak'd-meats,' which is still common in provincial 
districts of England and Scotland. 

182. dearest : intensest, most heartfelt. ' Dear ' is used by Eliza- 
bethan writers to describe a person or a thing that affects deeply 
either for joy or pain. Cf. ' hated his father dearly,' As You Like It, 
I, iii, 34-35; 'dear offence,' King Jo hn, I, i, 257; 'dear offences,' 
Henry V, II, ii, 181; 'dear exile,' Richard II, I, iii, 151; 'dear 
causes,' Macbeth, V, ii, 3. Murray derives 'dear' in the sense of 
'giving pain' from Anglo-Saxon deor, 'hard,' 'grievous,' and 'dear' 
in the modern sense from Anglo-Saxon deore, ' precious.' 

186. I saw him once. Perhaps this should be punctuated with a 
dash after 'him.' Horatio is probably about to say 'yesternight' 
(line 189) and blurts out ' once.' Cf. I, i, 60-63. 

187. Edwin Booth used to pause after 'man,' indicating, asDowden 
says, that ' man ' was something higher than ' king.' 



scene II HAMLET 29 

Hamlet. The king my father ! 

Horatio. Season your admiration for a while 
With an attent ear, till I may deliver, 
Upon the witness of these gentlemen, 
This marvel to you. 

Hamlet. For God's love, let me hear. 195 

Horatio. Two nights together had these gentlemen, 
Marcellus and Bernardo, on their watch, 
In the dead vast and middle of the night, 
Been thus encounter'd. A figure like your father, 
Armed at point exactly, cap-a-pe, 200 

Appears before them, and with solemn march 
Goes slow and stately by them ; thrice he walk'd 
By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes, 
Within his truncheon's length ; whilst they, distill'd 
Almost to jelly with the act of fear, 205 

193. attent Q2F1F2 I attentiue Qi Camb | Armed at poynt Q2 I Arm'd 

F3F4. at all points Ff . — cap-a-pe | Cap a 

195. God'slGods Q2|Heauens Ff. Pe Ff | Capapea Q2. 

198. vast Q1Q5Q6 Globe Camb | 202. stately by them ; Q2 1 stately; 

wast Q2F1 I waste F2F3F4 Delius | By them Ff. 
■waist Malone Steevens. 204. distill'd Q2 I bestil'd Fi | be- 

200. Armed at point Globe Delius still'd F2 I be still'd F3F4. 

192. Season your admiration : modify your astonishment. 

198. vast : vacancy, void. Cf. ' vast of night,' The Tempest, I, 
ii, 327. The ' waste ' of the Folios has the same meaning. 

200. Armed at point. Cf . ' at all points ' in Richard II, I, iii, 2. — 
cap-a-pe : "from head to foot " (line 227). From Old Fr. cap a pie ; 
mod. Fr. de pied en cap. 

204. distill'd : melted. ' Distil ' means originally ' fall in drops,' so 
that the figure is a natural one to describe the cold sweat of intense 
fear. Corson prefers the reading of the First Folio, taking 'bestil'd' 
as a strong form of 'still'd.' The Collier MS. reads 'bechilled.' 

205. jelly. Connotes trembling and lack of power. — with : by. 
See Abbott, § 193. — act : action, or perhaps 'effect.' 



30 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

Stand dumb, and speak not to him. This to me 

In dreadful secrecy impart they did ; 

And I with them the third night kept the watch : 

Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time, 

Form of the thing, each word made true and good, 210 

The apparition comes. I knew your father ; 

These hands are not more like. 

Hamlet. But where was this? 

Marcellus. My lord, upon the platform where we watch'd. 

Hamlet. Did you not speak to it? 

Horatio. My lord, I did ; 

But answer made it none ; yet once methought 215 

It lifted up it head and did address 
Itself to motion, like as it would speak ; 
But even then the morning cock crew loud, 
And at the sound it shrunk in haste away, 
And vanish'd from our sight. 

Hamlet. 'T is very strange. 220 

Horatio. As I do live, my honour'd lord, 'tis true; 
And we did think it writ down in our duty 
To let you know of it. 

Hamlet. Indeed, indeed, sirs, but this troubles me. 
Hold you the watch to-night? 

209. Where, as Q 6 1 Whereas Q2Ff. 221. honour'd | honourd Fi | hon- 

216. it head Q2F1F2 Globe Camb | ourable F2F4 I honorable F3. 
its head F3F4 Delius | his Qi Staunton. 224. Indeed, indeed | Indeede Q2. 

214. Steevens said that the emphasis should be on ' speak.' The 
tendency of modern actors is to emphasize ' you.' 

216. it head : its head. ' It ' as a form of the neuter possessive is 
not uncommon in sixteenth and early seventeenth century literature. 
See Abbott, § 228, and cf. note on I, i, 37. 

218. even: just, exactly. See Abbott, §38. 



scene ii HAMLET 3 1 

Marcellus. 1 _„ _ _ ■ 

_. t We do, my lord. 225 

Bernardo. J 

Hamlet. Arm'd, say you? 

Marcellus. ] . _ . 

Arm d, my lord. 



Bernardo. 

Hamlet. From top to toe? 

Marcellus. 



. My lord, from head to foot. 
Bernardo. 

Hamlet. Then saw you not his face? 

Horatio. O, yes, my lord ; he wore his beaver up. 

Hamlet. What, look'd he frowningly? 230 

Horatio. A countenance more in sorrow than in anger, 

Hamlet. Pale, or red? 

Horatio. Nay, very pale. 

Hamlet. And fix'd his eyes upon you? 

Horatio. Most constantly. 

Hamlet. I would I had been there. 

Horatio. It would have much amaz'd you. 235 

Hamlet. Very like, very like. Stay'd it long? 

Horatio. While one with moderate haste might tell a 

hundred. 

Marcellus. 1 _ ■ 

Bernardo. } L ° nger ' longer - 

228. face ? Ff I face. Q2. lookt be Ff | What lookt he Q2 I 

230. What, look'd he | What, How look'd he, Qi Staunton. 

226. 'Arm'd' has reference to the Ghost. 

228. The Quarto punctuation without the interrogation mark has 
been held to give a finer interpretation as expressing disappointed 
expectation. 

229. beaver : visor of a helmet. Properly the lower part of the 
helmet face guard. From Old Fr. baviere, « a child's bib.' 

237. tell: count. Cf . Psalms, cxlvii, 4. So 'tale,' meaning 'number.' 



32 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

Horatio. Not when I saw 't. 

Hamlet. His beard was grizzled? no? 

Horatio. It was, as I have seen it in his life, 240 

A sable silver'd. 

Hamlet. I will watch to-night ; 

Perchance 't will walk again. 

Horatio. I warrant you it will. 

Hamlet. If it assume my noble father's person, 
I '11 speak to it, though hell itself should gape 
And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all, 245 

If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight, 
Let it be tenable in your silence still ; 
And whatsoever else shall hap to-night, 
Give it an understanding, but no tongue : 
I will requite your loves. So, fare ye well ; 250 

Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve, 
I '11 visit you. 

All. Our duty to your honour. 

Hamlet. Your love, as mine to you ; farewell. 

\_Exeunt Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo] 
My father's spirit in arms ! all is not well ; 

239. grizzled? no? | grissl'd, no 247. tenable Q2 I treble F1F4 I 

Q2 I grisly ? no. Fi | grisly ? F2F3F4 I trebble F2F3. 

grizzled, — no? Dyce. 250. ye Ff | you Q2. 

241-242. 1 . . . again | one line in Ff . 253. love | loue Ff | loves Q2. — 

242. warrant you Ff | warrant Qi \Exeunt . . .] Capell | Exeunt (after 

( warn't Q2. line 252) Ff. 

241. A sable silver'd. Cf. Sonnets, xn, 4. 

247. tenable: retained. For adjectives ending in ble that have 
both an active and a passive meaning, see Abbott, § 3. The Folio 
reading ' treble ' has been defended as meaning a threefold obli- 
gation to silence. " The actor in uttering it must point to each of 
the three witnesses." — George Macdonald. 



scene in HAMLET 33 

I doubt some foul play : would the night were come ! 255 

Till then sit still, my soul. Foul deeds will rise, 

Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes. \_Exif\ 



Scene III. A room in Polonius's house 

Enter Laertes and Ophelia 

Laertes. My necessaries are embark'd ; farewell : 
And, sister, as the winds give benefit 
And convoy is assistant, do not sleep, 
But let me hear from you. 

Ophelia. Do you doubt that? 

Laertes. For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favour, 5 
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, 
A violet in the youth of primy nature, 
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, 

256. Foul Ff I fonde Q2. 5. favour Q2 I fauours Ff. 

257. them, to Pope | them to Ff. 8. Forward Q2F3F4 I Froward 
Scene III | Scene V Pope. — A F1F2. — sweet, not | sweet not Ff | 

room . . . house | Ff omit. tho' sweet, not Rowe. 

255. doubt : suspect, fear. Still used thus colloquially. 

Scene III. " This scene must be regarded as one of Shakespeare's 
lyric movements in the play, and the skill with which it is interwoven 
with the dramatic parts is peculiarly an excellence with our poet. 
You experience the sensation of a pause, without the sense of a 
stop." — Coleridge. 

2. as: as soon as, according as. See Abbott, § 109. 

3. convoy is assistant : means of conveyance are ready. 

6. fashion : transient whim. — toy in blood : capricious impulse. 
With 'toy' cf. I, iv, 75; with 'blood,' line 116; III, ii, 64. 

7. primy : in spring. Cf. ' prime,' As You Like It, V, iii, 33. 

8. Metrically, ' sweet ' demands a strong pause after it. Cf . pro- 
nunciation of ' meet ' in Macbeth, I, i, 7. 



34 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

The perfume and suppliance of a minute ; 
No more. 

Ophelia. No more but so? 

Laertes. Think it no more ; 10 

For nature, crescent, does not grow alone 
In thews and bulk, but, as this temple waxes, 
The inward service of the mind and soul 
Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now; 
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch 15 

The virtue of his will ; but you must fear, 
His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own ; 
For he himself is subject to his birth. 
He may not, as unvalu'd persons do, 

Carve for himself, for on his choice depends 20 

The safety and health of this whole state ; 

9. perfume and Q2 I Ff omit. 21. safety Q4Q6 I safty Q2 I sanc- 

10. so ? Rowe I so. £>2Ff . tity Ff | sanity Hanmer (Theobald 
18. Q2 omits this line. conj.). — this Q2 I the Ff. 

9. suppliance of a minute : mere pastime, to fill up the time. 

10. As Ophelia does not seem to question but quietly submits, 
Corson suggests retaining the punctuation of Quartos and Folios. 
— Think it no more: take for granted that such is the case till you 
have clear proof to the contrary. 

11. crescent: growing. In Antony and Cleopatra, II, i, 10, the ad- 
jective is used thus with a distinct allusion to the moon. 

12. thews : sinews, physical strength. — temple. This figure, from 
2 Corinthians, vi, 16 (cf. John, ii, 21), occurs also in Macbeth, II, iii, 73. 
It is continued in the ' service ' of the next line. 

13-14. The idea seems to be that Hamlet's love is but a youthful 
fancy, which, as his mind comes to maturity, he will outgrow. The 
passage would seem to imply that the prince is not so old as he is 
elsewhere represented to be. 

15. cautel: deceit, duplicity. Cf. 'cautelous,'/*^- 5 " Ccesar, II, i, 129. 

18. his birth : the conditions his birth entails upon him. 



scene in HAMLET 35 

And therefore must his choice be circumscrib'd 
Unto the voice and yielding of that body- 
Whereof he is the head. Then, if he says he loves you, 
It fits your wisdom so far to believe it 25 

As he in his particular act and place 
May give his saying deed ; which is no further 
Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal. 
Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain, 
If with too credent ear you list his songs, 30 

Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open 
To his unmaster'd importunity. 
Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister, 
And keep you in the rear of your affection, 
Out of the shot and danger of desire. 35 

The chariest maid is prodigal enough, 
If she unmask her beauty to the moon. 
Virtue itself scapes not calumnious strokes ; 
The canker galls the infants of the spring, 
Too oft before their buttons be disclos'd ; 40 

26. particular act and place Q2 I 34. keep you in Q2 I keepe with- 

peculiar Sect and force Ff. in Ff. 

31. lose F1F2F3 I loose Q2F4. 40. their Q2 I the Ff. 

22-24. His choice of a wife must be limited by the vote and con- 
sent of the whole nation. 

26. particular act and place : action dependent on his peculiar 
position. The Folio reading has many defenders. 

28. withal. The emphatic form of 'with.' See Abbott, § 196. 

36. The chariest. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare 
• Th' unchariest ' was the reading adopted. 

39. Shakespeare uses 'canker' in the three senses of (1) 'canker- 
worm,' as here ; (2) ' spreading sore,' as in King John, V, ii, 14 ; 
(3) 'dog-rose,' as in 1 Henry IV, I, iii, 176. 

40. buttons : buds. Cf . Fr. bouton. — disclos'd : opened. 



36 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

And in the morn and liquid dew of youth 
Contagious blastments are most imminent. 
Be wary, then ; best safety lies in fear : 
Youth to itself rebels, though none else near. 

Ophelia. I shall th' effect of this good lesson keep, 45 
As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother, 
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, 
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, 
Whilst, like a puff'd and reckless libertine, 
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads, 50 

And recks not his own rede. 

Laertes. O, fear me not. 

Enter Polonius 

I stay too long ; but here my father comes. 
A double blessing is a double grace ; 
Occasion smiles upon a second leave. 

Polonius. Yet here, Laertes ? aboard, aboard, for shame ! 
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail, 
And you are stay'd for. There ; my blessing with thee ! 

[Laying his hand on Laertes's head'] 

46. watchman Q2 1 watchmen Ff. 57. for. There; Theobald | for 
52. Scene VI Pope. — Enter Po- there: Ff. — thee Qa I you Ff. — 

lonius Ff I after rede (line 51) in Q2 [Laying . . . head] Theobald | Ff 
I after comes in Capell Globe Delius. omit. 

47. ungracious : graceless. Cf . Richard II, II, iii, 89. 

50. primrose path. Cf. 'primrose way, ,' Macbeth, II, iii, 21 ; 'flowery 
way,' All's Well that Ends Well, IV, v, 56. — treads. For change of 
construction, see Abbott, § 415. 

51. recks not his own rede : heeds not his own counsel. Cf. Burns's 
Epistle to a Young Friend : 

And may ye better reck the rede 
Than ever did th' adviser ! 



scene in HAMLET 37 

And these few precepts in thy memory 

See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue, 

Nor any unproportion'd thought his act. 60 

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. 

The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 

Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel ; 

But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 

Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade. Beware 65 

Of entrance to a quarrel ; but being in, 

Bear 't that th' opposed may beware of thee. 

Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice ; 

Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment 

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 70 

But not express'd in fancy ; ( rich, not gaudy ; 

For the apparel oft proclaims the man ; 

And they in Prance of the best rank and station 

59. See Ff Globe Delius | Look Q2 63. to QiFf | vnto Q2. 

Camb. 65. new-hatch'd | new hatcht Q2 

62. The Ff Delius | Those Q2 I vnhatch't Ff. 

Globe Camb. 68. thine Ff | thy Q2. 

58. Rushton, in Shakespeare' 's Euphuism, has pointed out that 
many of the maxims of Polonius are in Lyly's Euphues, the Anatomy 
of Wit, 1579, and Ettphues and his England, 1580. In the First 
Quarto many of the ' wise saws ' are in quotation marks. 

59. character : inscribe. Accented here on the second syllable. 

60. unproportion'd: unfitting. — his: its. See note, I, i, 37. 

61. familiar: courteous, friendly. — vulgar: common, 'cheap.' 

63. hoops. Pope substituted ' hooks,' but " grappling with hooks 
is the act of an enemy and not of a friend." — Clar. 

64-65. Do not blunt thy feeling by taking every new acquaintance 
by the hand and admitting him to the intimacy of friendship. — 
comrade. Accented on final syllable. This pronunciation is also found 
in Milton. In King Lear, II, iv, 213, the accent is on the first syllable. 

69. censure : expressed opinion, not necessarily unfavorable. 



38 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act 1 

Are of a most select and generous chief in that. 

Neither a borrower nor a lender be ; 75 

For loan oft loses both itself and friend, 

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 

This above all : to thine own self be true, 

And it must follow, as the night the day, 

Thou canst not then be false to any man. 80 

Farewell ; my blessing season this in thee ! 

Laertes. Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord. 

Polonius. The time invites you ; go, your servants tend. 

74. chief I chiefe Q2 I cheff Ff. 76. loan F3F4 I Loane F2 I lone 

75. lender be Ff I lender boy Q2. Fi | loue Q2. — loses Ff | looses Q2. 

74. A famous crux. With the substitution of 'chief for 'cheff' 
the reading is that of the Folios, and adopted in Globe, Camb, and 
Clar. Here 'chief is interpreted as a noun meaning 'eminence.' 
See Murray. The more important of the many variant readings are: 

Are of a most select and generall chiefe in that : (First Quarto). 
Or of a most select and generous, chiefe in that : (Second Quarto). 
Are most select and generous, chief in that. (Rowe, Delius). 
Are most select and generous in that. (Grant White). 

77. husbandry : economy. Cf. Macbeth, II, i, 4. 

78-80. There is Shakespearian irony in making this old Mr. 
Worldly-wiseman utter a truth so noble and profound which he only 
understands as a practical rule of wise selfishness. In the same 
general sense "honesty is the best policy"; but no truly honest man 
ever acts on that principle, and a man who fixes upon no higher 
rule than that of being true to himself will never be really true to 
himself. This is one of the cases wherein a man must aim at the 
greater, or he will not attain the less. A man will never be really 
true to himself unless he be true to something higher than himself. 

81. season : temper, make fit for the purpose. Cf. Ill, iii, 86 ; The 
Merchant of Venice, V, i, 107. " Mature, ripen." — Schmidt. Perhaps 
we should interpret in the sense of 'ingrain,' the idea being of so 
steeping the counsel into his mind that it will not fade out, 

83. tend : are waiting for you. Cf . IV, iii, 44. 



scene in HAMLET 39 

Laertes. Farewell, Ophelia ; and remember well 
What I have said to you. 

Ophelia. 'T is in my memory lock'd, 85 

And you yourself shall keep the key of it. 

Laertes. Farewell. \_Exit~\ 

Polonius. What is't, Ophelia, he hath said to you? 

Ophelia. So please you, something touching the Lord 
Hamlet. 

Polonius. Marry, well bethought. 90 

'T is told me, he hath very oft of late 
Given private time to you, and you yourself 
Have of your audience been most free and bounteous. 
If it be so — as so 't is put on me, 

And that in way of caution — I must tell you, 95 

You do not understand yourself so clearly 
As it behoves my daughter and your honour. 
What is between you? give me up the truth. 

Ophelia. He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders 
Of his affection to me. 100 

Polonius. Affection ! pooh ! you speak like a green girl, 
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. 
Do you believe his — tenders, as you call them? 

Ophelia. I do not know, my lord, what I should think. 

Polonius. Marry, I '11 teach you ; think yourself a baby, 

90. Marry. This petty oath, from the custom of swearing by the 
Virgin Mary, was often used as a colloquial intensive. 

94. put on: told impressively. Cf. As You Like It, I, ii, 99-100: 

Celia. . . . Here comes Monsieur Le Beau. 

Rosalind. With his mouth full of news. 

Celia. - Which he will put on us, as pigeons feed their young. 

102. Unsifted: untried. Cf. 'sift' in 'sift the thing thoroughly.' 



40 



THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 



That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay, 
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly ; 
Or — not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, 
Running it thus — you '11 tender me a fool. 

Ophelia. My lord, he hath importun'd me with love no 
In honourable fashion. 

Polonius. Ay, fashion you may call it ; go to, go to. 

Ophelia. And hath given countenance to his speech, 
my lord, 
With almost all the holy vows of heaven. 

Polonius. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know, 
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul 
Lends the tongue vows ; these blazes, daughter, 
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both, 
Even in their promise, as it is a-making, 
You must not take for fire. From this time, daughter, 120 
Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence ; 
Set your entreatments at a higher rate 

106. these Q2 I his Ff . in Ff .— almost . . . holy Q2 1 all the Ff . 

iog. Running Dyce (Collier con j.) 117. Lends Q2 I Giues Ff. 

Globe Delius Camb | Wrong Q 2 I 120. From Q2 1 For Ff.— daughter 

Roaming Ff. Ff | Q2 Globe Delius Camb omit. 

113-114. my . . . heaven | one line 121. somewhat Ff | something Q2. 

106. tenders. Polonius puns on two well-known senses: (1) 'offers,' 
and (2) the business or financial sense preserved in « legal tender.' 
In line 107, 'tender' means ' regard,' 'take care of '; in line 109, 'give.' 

112. go to. A phrase of varying import, "to express disapprobation, 
remonstrance, protest, or derisive incredulity." — Murray. 

115. springes to catch woodcocks: snares to entrap simplicity. 
There is evidence that the expression was proverbial. Cf. V, ii, 296. 
It was a popular notion that the woodcock had no brains. 

122. ' Entreatment ' as used here is denned by Murray as ' conver- 
sation, interview,' but Murray's first quotation shows that the word 
was used as a military term in the sense of ' negotiations for peace, 



scene in HAMLET 4 1 

Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet, 
Believe so much in him, that he is young, 
And with a larger tether may he walk 125 

Than may be given you. In few, Ophelia, 
Do not believe his vows ; for they are brokers, 
Not of that dye which their investments show, 
But mere implorators of unholy suits, 

Breathing like sanctified and pious bonds, 130 

The better to beguile. This is for all ; 
I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth 
Have you so slander any moment leisure 
As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. 
Look to 't, I charge you ; come your ways. 135 

Ophelia. I shall obey, my lord. [_Exeunt~\ 

128. that dye Q2 I the eye Ff. 133. slander | squander Collier 

130. bonds Q2F1 I bawds Pope MS. — moment Cj2Q3Ff | moments 
(Theobald conj.) Globe Delius Camb. Q4Q5Q6 I moment's Pope. 

surrender,' etc., and this, in view of ' command to parley ' in the next 
line, is undoubtedly the meaning here. 

126. In few: in short. Cf. The Tempest, I, ii, 144. "Adjectives are 
frequently used for Nouns, even in the singular." — Abbott, § 5. 
Cf. II, ii, 425: "'Twas caviare to the general." 

127. brokers : go-betweens, petty middlemen. 

128. dye. The Folio reading may be correct. As in The Tempest, 
II, i, 55, ' eye ' was used for 'a special tinge.' Cf. Fr. ceil. — invest- 
ments : vestments. 

130. bonds. There seems no good reason for changing this, the 
plain reading of Quartos and Folios. Law papers are often headed 
with religious formulae. 

133. slander : so misuse as to cause slander. — moment : moment's. 
Abbott, § 430, prints ' moment-leisure,' and gives it as one of many 
instances of noun compounds where the first noun may be treated as 
a genitive used adjectively. Cf. ' region kites,' II, ii, 565, and 'music 
vows,' III, i, 156. 



42 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Scene IV. The platform 

Enter Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus 

Hamlet. The air bites shrewdly ; it is very cold. 

Horatio. It is a nipping and an eager air. 

Hamlet. What hour now? 

Horatio. I think it lacks of twelve. 

Marcellus. No, it is struck. 

Horatio. Indeed? I heard it not; then it draws near 
the season 5 

Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk. 

[A flourish of trumpets, and ordnance shot off, within\ 
What does this mean, my lord? 

Hamlet. The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse, 

Scene IV Capell | Scene III cold ? Ff. 

Rowe I Scene VII Pope | Ff omit. 6. [A flourish . . . witlun\ A 

— The platform | Ff omit. florish of trompets and 2. peeces 

1. it is very cold. Q2 I is it very goes of Q2 I Ff omit. 

Scene IV. Coleridge comments as follows : 

The unimportant conversation with which this scene opens is a proof of 
Shakespeare's minute knowledge of human nature. It is a well-established 
fact, that, on the brink of any serious enterprise, or event of moment, men 
almost invariably endeavour to elude the pressure of their own thoughts by 
turning aside to trivial objects and familiar circumstances : thus this dialogue 
on the platform begins with remarks on the coldness of the air, and inquiries, 
obliquely connected indeed with the expected hour of the visitation; but 
thrown out in a seeming vacuity of topics, as to the striking of the clock, and 
so forth. 

1. The question of the Folios, " is it very cold ? " has been regarded 
as an indication that Horatio and Marcellus have been on the plat- 
form some time before Hamlet joins them. Cf. I, ii, 251-252. 

2. eager : sharp. Old Fr. aigre (Lat. acer). Cf. I, v, 69. 
8. wake : hold a late revel. — rouse. See note, I, ii, 127. 



scene iv HAMLET 



43 



Keeps wassail, and the swaggering up-spring reels ; 
And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down, 10 

The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out 
The triumph of his pledge. 

Horatio. Is it a custom ? 

Hamlet. Ay, marry, is 't ; 
But to my mind, though I am native here 
And to the manner born, it is a custom 15 

More honour'd in the breach than the observance. 
This heavy-headed revel east and west 
Makes us traduc'd and tax'd of other nations : 
They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase 
Soil our addition ; and indeed it takes 20 

From our achievements, though perform'd at height, 
The pith and marrow of our attribute. 
So, oft it chances in particular men, 
That for some vicious mole of nature in them, 

9. wassail | wassell Q2 1 wassells Ff. 17-38. This . . . scandal Q2 I Ff 

14. But Q2 I And Ff. omit. 

9. wassail : carousal. The Anglo-Saxon wes hdl, ' may you be in 
health,' the salutation used in drinking healths, was transferred by the 
Normans to a 'carousal.' — up-spring : a boisterous dance. Pope read 
' upstart,' referring to the king. — reels : reels through. 

18. tax'd of: censured by. Cf. As You Like It, II, vii, 71. 

19. clepe : call. — with swinish phrase : by calling us swine. 

20. addition: title. Cf. Macbeth, I, iii, 106; King Lear, I, i, 138. 

22. attribute : reputation, i.e. what is attributed. 

23. particular : individual. Hamlet is now wrought up to the high- 
est pitch of expectancy, and he seeks relief from the pain of that over- 
intense feeling by launching off into a strain of general and abstract 
reflection. His state of mind aptly registers itself in the irregular 
and broken structure of his language. 

24. mole of nature : natural, constitutional blemish. 



44 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act x 

As, in their birth — wherein they are not guilty, 25 

Since nature cannot choose his origin — 

By the o'ergrowth of some complexion, 

Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason ; 

Or by some habit that too much o'er-leavens 

The form of plausive manners, that these men, 30 

Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect, 

Being nature's livery, or fortune's star — 

Their virtues else — be they as pure as grace, 

As infinite as man may undergo — 

Shall in the general censure take corruption 35 

From that particular fault : the dram of eale 

Doth all the noble substance of a doubt 

To his own scandal. 

27. the Pope I their Q2. 33. Their Pope | His Q2. 

32. star I starre Q2 I scar Pope 36-38. the dram . . . scandal Q2Q3 

(Theobald conj.). | Pope omits. See note. 

27-28. By some native aptitude being indulged and fostered so 
much that it breaks down the proper guards and strongholds of 
reason. According to the old physiology, the bodily ' humours ' 
(phlegm, blood, bile, and black bile) in just proportion resulted in a 
healthy 'complexion' ('weaving together,' Lat. com-, plecto) or 
' temperament ' (' mixture,' Lat. te?npero). The excess of one of these 
' humours ' determined a phlegmatic, sanguine, choleric, or melan- 
cholic, ' complexion ' or ' temperament.' 

30. plausive: pleasing. Cf. All's Well that Ends Well, I, ii, 53. 

32. A natural blemish, or one that has come from being born 
under an unlucky star. In Shakespeare are many allusions to the 
tenets of the old astrology. Cf. Much Ado About Nothing, II, i, 
349 ; Julius Ccesar, I, ii, 140. 

36-38. Upwards of a hundred emendations of this passage have 
been suggested (see Furness and Camb), but not one is more satis- 
factory than the reading of the Second and Third Quartos given here 
in the text with modernized spelling. The passage does not occur 



scene iv . HAMLET 45 

Enter Ghost 

Horatio. Look, my lord, it comes ! 

Hamlet. Angels and ministers of grace defend us ! 
Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd ; 40 

Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell ; 
Be thy intents wicked or charitable ; 
Thou com'st in such a questionable shape 
That I will speak to thee : I '11 call thee Hamlet, 
King, father, royal Dane ; O, answer me ! 45 

Let me not burst in ignorance ; but tell 
Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death, 
Have burst their cerements ; why the sepulchre, 
Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn'd, 
Hath op'd his ponderous and marble jaws, 50 

42. intents Q2 I euents Ff. 49- inurn'd F2F3F4 | enurn'd Fi j 
45. Q2 I Oh, oh Ff. interr'd Q2. 

in the First Quarto or in the Folios ; the later Quartos give ' ease ' 
for 'eale.' 'Eale' is now generally accepted as a contracted or a mis- 
spelled form of ' evil.' In II, ii, 586, the Second Quarto has « deale ' 
for ' devil.' For ' of a doubt,' Caldecott ingeniously suggested, ' often 
dout,' taking 'dout' in the sense of 'do out,' 'abolish,' 'extinguish,' 
as in IV, vii, 191 ; Henry V, IV, ii, 11. A most natural explanation 
of the passage as it stands is Professor Dowden's. He takes ' scan- 
dal ' as a verb (cf. Cymbeline, III, iv, 62) and interprets thus : " Out 
of a mere doubt or suspicion the dram of evil degrades in reputation 
all the noble substance to its own [substance]." Dowden also sug- 
gests that ' scandal ' may have been meant to precede ' to his own.' 

43. questionable : inviting question or conversation. Cf. ' unques- 
tionable spirit,' in As You Like It, III, ii, 393. 

45. Fumess suggests the punctuation, " King, father ; royal 
Dane," etc., as giving a more satisfactory climax. 

47. canoniz'd: consecrated by the canonical rites of sepulture. 
The accent is on the second syllable. 

48. cerements : waxed wrappings for the dead. A dissyllable. 



46 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

To cast thee up again ! What may this mean, 

That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel, 

Revisit' st thus the glimpses of the moon, 

Making night hideous ; and we fools of nature 

So horridly to shake our disposition 55 

With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls? 

Say, why is this? wherefore? what should we do? 

[Ghost beckons Hamlet] 

Horatio. It beckons you to go away with it, 
As if it some impartment did desire 
To you alone. 

Marcellus. Look, with what courteous action 60 

It waves you to a more removed ground ; 
But do not go with it. 

Horatio. No, by no means. 

Hamlet. It will not speak ; then I will follow it. 

Horatio. Do not, my lord. 

Hamlet. Why, what should be the fear ? 

I do not set my life at a pin's fee ; 65 

And, for my soul, what can it do to that, 
Being a thing immortal as itself ? 
It waves me forth again ; I '11 follow it. 

Horatio. What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord, 
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff 70 

53. Revisit' st F4 I Revisits Fi 63. I will Q2 I will I Ff. 

F2F3. 70. summit Rowe | somnet Q2 I 

61. waves Q2 I wafts Ff. sonnet Ff. 

54. we fools of nature : we who cannot by nature know the mys- 
teries of the supernatural world. The grammar suggests a paren- 
thetic exclamation ; 'we' anticipates and explains ' our ' in the next 
line. 

61. removed : remote. Cf. As You Like It, III, ii, 360. 



scene iv HAMLET 47 

That beetles o'er his base into the sea, 

And there assume some other horrible form, 

Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason 

And draw you into madness ? think of it ; 

The very place puts toys of desperation, 75 

Without more motive, into every brain 

That looks so many fathoms to the sea 

And hears it roar beneath. 

Hamlet. It waves me still. 

Go on ; I '11 follow thee. 

Marcellus. You shall not go, my lord. 

Hamlet. Hold off your hands ! 

Horatio. Be rul'd ; you shall not go. 

Hamlet. My fate cries out, 

And makes each petty artery in this body 82 

As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve. [Ghost beckons] 

Still am I call'd. Unhand me, gentlemen ; 

\_Breaking from them~\ 

72. assume Q2 I assumes Ff. 83. Nemean | Nemeon Q2 I Ne- 
75-78. The very . . . beneath Q2 I mian F1F2. — [Ghost beckons'] Ma- 

Ff omit. lone | Ff omit. 

78. waves Q2 I wafts Ff. 84. [Breaking . . . them~\ Rowe I 

80. hands Q2 I hand Ff. Ff omit. 

71. beetles o'er his : overhangs its. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, I, iv, 32. 

73. Which might take away the sovereignty of your reason. It 
was anciently believed that evil spirits sometimes assumed the guise 
of deceased persons, to draw men into madness and suicide, as is 
here apprehended of the Ghost. 

75. toys of desperation : freakish notions of suicide. 

82. 'Artery,' 'nerve' (line 83), and 'sinew' were often used inter- 
changeably by Elizabethan writers. 

83. Nemean. Accented here on first syllable, as in Love's Labour 's 
Lost, IV, i, 90. To strangle the Nemean lion was one of the labors 
imposed on Hercules by Eurystheus. 



48 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

By heaven, I '11 make a ghost of him that lets me ! 85 

I say, away ! Go on ; I '11 follow thee. 

\_Exeunt Ghost and Hamlet] 

Horatio. He waxes desperate with imagination. 

Marcellus. Let 's follow ; 't is not fit thus to obey him. 

Horatio. Have after. To what issue will this come? 89 

Marcellus. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. 

Horatio. Heaven will direct it. 

Marcellus. Nay, let 's follow him. 

\_Exeunt~\ 

Scene V. Another part of the platform 
Enter Ghost and Hamlet 

Hamlet. Where wilt thou lead me ? speak ; I '11 go no 
further. 

Ghost. Mark me. 

Hamlet. I will. 

Ghost. My hour is almost come, 

When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames 
Must render up myself. 

Hamlet. Alas, poor ghost ! 

Ghost. Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing 5 

To what I shall unfold. 

Hamlet. Speak ; I am bound to hear. 

Scene V Capell | Scene VIII | Ff omit. 
Pope I Scene continued in Ff. — i. Where Ff Delius | Whether Q2 

Another part of the platform Capell | Whither Globe Camb. 

85. lets: hinders. Etymologically distinct from 'let' meaning 
'allow.' See Murray. 

91. it : the issue. ' Nay ' refers to Horatio's words and implies, 
Let us look after the matter ourselves. 



scene v HAMLET 49 

Ghost. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear. 

Hamlet. What ? 

Ghost. I am thy father's spirit, 
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, 10 

And for the day confin'd to fast in fires, 
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature 
Are burnt and purg'd away. But that I am forbid 
To tell the secrets of my prison-house, 
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word 15 

Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, 
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, 
Thy knotted and combined locks to part, 
And each particular hair to stand an end, 
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine ; 20 

But this eternal blazon must not be 

18. knotted Q2 I knotty Ff. 20. fretful F4 ! fretfull Q1F1F2F3 

19. an end Ff | on end Qi Pope. | fearefull Q2. 

11. Cf. Chaucer, The Persones Tale : "And moreover the miseise 
of helle shal been in defaute of mete and drinke." 

17. like stars, start from their spheres. One of the many allusions 
in Shakespeare and English poetry generally (cf. Chaucer, The Par- 
lement of Fotries, 59-63) to the old Ptolemaic doctrine that the stars 
were set in crystalline shells that revolved in music {cf The Mer- 
chant of Venice, V, i, 60-61) round the earth. Cf. A Midsummer 
Nighfs Dream, II, i, 153-154 : 

And certain stars shot madly from their spheres 
To hear the sea-maid's music. 

19. ' An ' is the original form of the preposition ' on.' 

20. porpentine : porcupine. Always spelled thus in Shakespeare. 

21. eternal blazon : disclosure of the mysteries of eternity. Shake- 
speare sometimes uses 'eternal ' in the sense of ' infernal' (cf. the old 
slang term ' 'tarnal '), and it is possible, though hardly probable, that 
this is the meaning here. 



50 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list ! 
If thou didst ever thy dear father love — 

Hamlet. O God ! 

Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. 25 

Hamlet. Murder ! 

Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is ; 
But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. 

Hamlet. Haste me to know 't, that I, with wings as swift 
As meditation or the thoughts of love, 30 

May sweep to my revenge. 

Ghost. I find thee apt ; 

And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed 
That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, 
Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear : 
It 's given out that, sleeping in mine orchard, 35 

A serpent stung me ; so the whole ear of Denmark 
Is by a forged process of my death 
Rankly abus'd ; but know, thou noble youth, 
The serpent that did sting thy father's life 
Now wears his crown. 

22. List, list, Q2 I list Hamlet, Rowe | Hast, hast Ff. — I | Ff omit, 
oh Ff. 33. roots I rootes Q2 I rots Ff . 

24. God Q 2 I Heauen Ff. 35- It 's Ff | 'T is Q 2 . — mine Ff | 

29. Two lines in Ff . — Haste my Q2. 

32. fat weed. The many-bulbed asphodel that bloomed on the 
meadows of the lower world, the poppy, and the slumberous yew 
which, according to Seneca, overhangs Lethe, have been suggested 
as the plant referred to. 

33. Lethe wharf : the place on the banks of the river of forgetful- 
ness where the old boatman Charon had his moorings. 

35. ' Orchard ' in Shakespeare usually means ' garden.' 
37. process : official narrative. Clar suggests that ' process ' here 
comes nearly to the meaning of Fr. proces verbal. 



scene v HAMLET 5 1 

Hamlet. O my prophetic soul ! 40 

Mine uncle ! 

Ghost. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, 
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts — 
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power 
So to seduce ! — won to his shameful lust 45 

The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. 

Hamlet, what a falling-oft was there ! 
From me, whose love was of that dignity 
That it went hand in hand even with the vow 

1 made to her in marriage ; and to decline 50 
Upon a wretch, whose natural gifts were poor 

To those of mine ! 

But virtue, as it never will be mov'd, 

Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven, 

So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd, 55 

Will sate itself in a celestial bed, 

And prey on garbage. 

But, soft ! methinks I scent the morning air ; 

Brief let me be. Sleeping within mine orchard, 

My custom always in the afternoon, 60 

Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, 

41. Mine Ff | my Q2. 56-57. One line in Ff . — sate F1F2 
43. wit Pope I wits Q2Ff . — with | sort Q2 I seat F3F4. 

Q2 I hath F1F2F3 ! and F4. 58. morning Q2 I mornings Ff. 

45. to his Q2FSF4 I to to this Fi. 59, 63. mine Ff | my Q2. 

52-53. One line in Q2Ff. 60. in Ff | of Q2. 

40. Hamlet has suspected "some foul play" (I, ii, 255), and now 
his suspicion seems prophetic. 

42. adulterate: adulterous. Cf. 'emulate,' I, i, 83. 

52. To: in comparison with. Cf. I, ii, 140. See Abbott, § 187. 
61. secure : unsuspecting. Cf. Lat. securus. i Secure ' here, as in 
Othello, IV, i, 72, is accented on the first syllable. 



52 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, 

And in the porches of mine ears did pour 

The leperous distilment ; whose effect 

Holds such an enmity with blood of man 65 

That swift as quicksilver it courses through 

The natural gates and alleys of the body ; 

And with a sudden vigour it doth posset 

And curd, like eager droppings into milk, 

The thin and wholesome blood : so did it mine ; 70 

And a most instant tetter bark'd about, 

Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, 

All my smooth body. 

Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand 

Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd ; 75 

62. hebenon Ff | Hebona Q2. 69. eager Q2 I Aygre Ff. 

67. alleys Hanmer | allies Q2F1 . 71. bark'd | barckt Q2 I bak'd Ff. 

68. posset Ff I possesse Q2. 75- of queen Q2 I and Queene Fi. 

62. hebenon. Of the many conjectures what this is (' ebony, 
•hemlock,' ebenus meaning 'yew,' etc.), the most reasonable is 'hen- 
bane,' the oil of which, according to Pliny, " if it be but dropped 
into the eares is ynough to trouble the brain " (Holland's transla- 
tion, 1 601). Marlowe mentions the 'juice of hebon' among the 
poisons of the Stygian pool, The Jew of Malta, III, iv, 102. 

65-67. Here, and in Julius Ccesar, II, i, 289-290, is embodied what 
was known about the circulation of the blood in the opening years 
of the seventeenth century. In 161 6, the year of Shakespeare's 
death, Harvey lectured on his great discovery, but his famous treatise 
was not published until twelve years later. 

68. posset : coagulate. " Posset is hot milk poured on ale or sack, 
having sugar, grated bisket, and eggs, with other ingredients boiled 
in it, which all goes to a curd." — Academie of Armourie, 1688. 

69. eager. "Aigre : Eagre, sharp, tart, biting, sower." — Cotgrave's 
Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, 161 1. Cf. I, iv, 2. 

71. instant : immediate. — bark'd : covered as with bark. 



SCENE V 



HAMLET 53 



Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, 

Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd ; 

No reckoning made, but sent to my account 

With all my imperfections on my head. 

O, horrible ! O, horrible ! most horrible ! 80 

If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not ; 

Let not the royal bed of Denmark be 

A couch for luxury and damned incest. 

But, howsoever thou pursuest this act, 

Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive 85 

Against thy mother aught ; leave her to heaven, 

And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge 

To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once ! 

The glow-worm shows the matin to be near, 

And gins to pale his uneffectual fire ; 9° 

Adieu, adieu, adieu ! remember me. \_Exif] 

91. Adieu, adieu, adieu ! Q2 I Adue, adue, Hamlet : Fi. 

77. Unhousel'd : without receiving the eucharist. — disappointed : 
un-appointed, unprepared. — unanel'd: without extreme unction. 
" My fair lords, said Sir Launcelot . . . give me my rites. So when 
he was houseled and aneled, and had all that a christian man ought 
to have, he prayed the Bishop that his fellows might bear his body 
to Joyous Gard." — Le Morte Darthur, XXI, xii. When Pope sug- 
gested ' unanointed ' for ' disappointed,' he interpreted ' unanel'd ' as 
* without a knell being rung.' 

80. Stage tradition and many editors give this line to Hamlet. 

83. luxury : licentiousness. Its only meaning in Shakespeare. 

85. Taint not thy mind. This part of the injunction is well worth 
noting. Time and manner are left to Hamlet, only he is to keep him- 
self clean from crime and from dishonor ; his revenge must be right- 
eous and according to the demands of justice, not merely personal. 

90. gins. Usually printed ' 'gins,' but it is a distinct aphetic form 
of ' begin,' or ' ongin.' In Chaucer and Middle English literature the 



54 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Hamlet. O all you host of heaven ! O earth ! what else? 
And shall I couple hell? O, fie ! Hold, hold, my heart : 
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old, 
But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee ! 95 

Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat 
In this distracted globe. Remember thee ! 
Yea, from the table of my memory 
I '11 wipe away all trivial fond records, 

All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, 100 

That youth and observation copied there ; 
And thy commandment all alone shall live 
Within the book and volume of my brain, 
Unmix' d with baser matter : yes, yes, by heaven ! 
O most pernicious woman ! 105 

O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain ! 
My tables, my tables, — meet it is I set it down, 
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain ; 
At least I 'm sure it may be so in Denmark. 

93. Hold, hold Q2 I hold Ff. 107. My tahles, my tables Ff | My 

95. stiffly Ff I swiftly Q2. tables Q2. 

104. yes, yes Ff | yes Q2. 109. Rowe inserted [Writing]. 

past tense 'gan' was "commonly used in a weakened sense as a mere 
auxiliary (= the modern 'did') serving to form a periphrastic pret- 
erite." — Murray. — uneffectual. Probably because it gives light 
without heat. That the ' fire ' fades as the daylight grows, may 
also be implied. Cf . Pericles, II, iii, 43-44 : 

Where now his son 's like a glow-worm in the night, 
The which hath fire in darkness, none in light. 

97. globe : head. Hamlet's hand is pressed against his forehead. 

98. table : tablet. Cf. The Two Gentlemen of Verona, II, vii, 3. 

99. fond: foolish. — records. Accented on second syllable. 

100. saws: maxims. — pressures: impressions. Cf. Ill, ii, 22. 
107. tables : memorandum book. Cf . 2 Henry JV-, II, iv, 289. 



Scene v HAMLET 55 

So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word; no 

It is, * Adieu, adieu ! remember me ' : 
I have sworn 't. 
Horatio. 



[ Within] My lord, my lord ! 

Marcellus. [ Within] Lord Hamlet ! 

Horatio. [ Within] Heaven secure him \ 

Hamlet. So be it ! 

113. Scene IX Pope. 113-116. See note below. 

no. So, uncle, there you are. This passage is usually taken in a 
literal and formal way, as if Hamlet were carefully writing down the 
axiomatic saying he has just uttered. Werder's view of the matter 
is suggestive : 

Hamlet pulls out his tablets, and jabs the point of his pencil once or 
twice into the leaf, because he cannot do the same to the king with his sword, 
as he would like to do, — nothing further ; only such marks, such a sign, 
does he make. That stands for ' So, uncle, there you are ! ' And although he 
says he must write it down for himself, he does not literally write ; that does 
not accord with his mood and situation. 

— word: watchword, motto. 

113-116. The dialogue is distributed in the First Folio as follows : 

Hor. eV= Mar. within. My Lord, my Lord. 

Enter Horatio and Marcellus. 

Mar. Lord Hamlet. 

Hor. Heauen secure him. 

Mar. So be it. 

Hor. Illo, ho, ho, my Lord. 

Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy ; come bird, come. 

Camb keeps the Folio position of the stage direction, as in the dark- 
ness Hamlet may not see Horatio and Marcellus on their first entry. 
The Quartos give ' So be it ! ' to Hamlet. " There is something highly 
solemn and proper in making Hamlet say the Amen to a benediction 
pronounced on himself." — Capell. Furness suggests that 'So be 
it ! ' may refer to the conclusion of Hamlet's writing in his tables. 



56 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Marcellus. \Withiri\ Illo, ho, ho, my lord ! 115 

Hamlet. Hillo, ho, ho, boy ! Come, bird, come. 

Enter Horatio and Marcellus 

Marcellus. How is 't, my noble lord? 
Horatio. What news, my lord? 

Hamlet. O, wonderful ! 
Horatio. Good my lord, tell it. 

Hamlet. No ; you '11 reveal it. 

Horatio. Not I, my lord, by heaven. 
Marcellus. Nor I, my lord. 

Hamlet. How say you, then, would heart of man once 
think it? 
But you '11 be secret? 

\ Ay, by heaven, my lord. 

Marcellus. J 

Hamlet. There 's ne'er a villain dwelling in all Den- 
mark — 
But he 's an arrant knave. 

Horatio. There needs no ghost, my lord, come from 
the grave 125 

To tell us this. 

Hamlet. Why, right ; you are i' th' right ; 

And so, without more circumstance at all, 
I hold it fit that we shake hands and part : 
You, as your business and desire shall point you, 
Eor every man has business and desire, 130 

129. desire Q2 I desires Ff . 130. has F2F3F4 I ha's Fi | hath Q2. 

116. Hamlet here imitates the falconer's call to his hawk. 
-127. circumstance : circumlocution, beating about the bush. 



scene v HAMLET 57 

Such as it is ; and, for mine own poor part, 
Look you, I '11 go pray. 

Horatio. These are but wild and whirling words, my 
lord. 

Hamlet. I 'm sorry they offend you, heartily ; 
Yes, faith, heartily. 

Horatio. There's no offence, my lord. 135 

Hamlet. Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio, 
And much offence too. Touching this vision here, 
It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you ; 
For your desire to know what is between us, 
O'ermaster 't as you may. And now, good friends, 140 

As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers, 
Give me one poor request. 

Horatio. What is 't, my lord ? We will. 

Hamlet. Never make known what you have seen to- 
night. 

Horatio. 1 ,, . , 

\ My lord, we will not. 
Marcellus. J 

Hamlet. Nay, but swear 't. 

Horatio. In faith, 

131. mine Ff | my Q2. ing Q2 I hurling Ff. 

133. whirling Theobald | whurl- 136. Horatio Q2 I my Lord Ff. 

136. Warburton has ingeniously defended Shakespeare's making 
the Danish prince swear by St. Patrick, by observing that the whole 
northern world had their learning from Ireland. St. Patrick, too, 
was regarded as the keeper of Purgatory. 

138. honest ghost. Hamlet probably means that the Ghost is a real 
ghost, just what it appears to be, and not "the devil" in "a pleas- 
ing shape," as Horatio had apprehended it to be. But cf. II, ii, 586. 
See note, I, iv, 73. 

140. O'ermaster 't as you may : subdue your desire as best you can. 



58 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

My lord, not I. 

Marcellus. Nor I, my lord, in faith. 146 

Hamlet. Upon my sword. 

Marcellus. We have sworn, my lord, already. 

Hamlet. Indeed, upon my sword, indeed. 

Ghost. \BeneatK\ Swear. 

Hamlet. Ah, ha, boy ! say'st thou so ? Art thou there, 
truepenny? 150 

Come on ; you hear this fellow in the cellarage. 
Consent to swear. 

Horatio. Propose the oath, my lord. 

Hamlet. Never to speak of this that you have seen. 
Swear by my sword. 

Ghost. \Beneath~\ Swear. 155 

Hamlet. Hie et ubique? Then we'll shift our ground. 
Come hither, gentlemen, 

149. [Beneath'] Capell | Ghost 150-151. Prose in Ff. 

cries vnder the Stage Ff (after 155, 161, 182. [Beneath] Capell | 

Swear). Ff omit. 

147. The oath they have already sworn is ' in faith.' But this has 
not enough of ritual solemnity in it to satisfy Hamlet. The custom 
of swearing by the sword, or rather by the cross at the hilt of it, is 
very ancient. The name of Christ was sometimes inscribed on the 
handle. So that swearing by one's sword was the most solemn oath 
a Christian soldier could take. 

150. truepenny: honest old fellow. Dowden thus explains this 
banter : 

Hamlet's recoil from horror to half-hysterical jesting is justified to his 
own consciousness as intended to divert the conjectures of his companions 
from the dreadful nature of the Ghost's disclosure, which he cannot reveal to 
Horatio in the presence of Marcellus. 

156. Hicet ubique : here and everywhere. E. K. Chambers suggests 
that as Shakespeare rarely introduces Latin words in ordinary dia- 
logue, it is probable that this scene contains fragments of an older play- 



Scene v HAMLET 59 

And lay your hands again upon my sword. 

Never to speak of this that you have heard, 

Swear by my sword. 160 

Ghost. \Beneath~\ Swear. 

Hamlet. Well said, old mole ! canst work i' the earth 
so fast? 
A worthy pioner ! Once more remove, good friends. 

Horatio. O day and night ! but this is wondrous strange. 

Hamlet. And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. 
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 166 
Than are dreamt of in our philosophy. 
But come : 

Here, as before, never, so help you mercy, 
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself — 170 

As I perchance hereafter shall think meet 
To put an antic disposition on — 
That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, 
With arms encumber'd thus, or this head-shake, 
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase, 175 

As 'Well, well, we know,' or 'We could, and if we would,' 
Or 'If we list to speak,' or ' There be, and if they might,' 

162. earth Q2 I ground Ff. 174. this head-shake [ thus, head 
167. our Ff I your Q2. shake Ff. 

167-168. One line in Ff. 176. Well, well Q2 I well Ff. 

170. soe'er | so ere Ff | so were Q2. 176, 177. and if Ff | an if Hanmer. 

173. times Q2 I time Ff. 177. they Q2 I there Ff. 

163. pioner: digger. It is, of course, the same word as 'pioneer.' 
For the form, cf. ' enginer,' III, iv, 204 

172. antic : fantastic. The same word etymologically as ' antique.' 

174. encumber'd thus. Cf. 'in this sad knot,' The Tempest, I, ii, 224. 
176, 177. and if . An intensification (cf. 'or ere,' I, ii, 147) of the 

conditional use of ' and,' which in this sense is usually spelled ' an ' 
in modern editions. See Abbott, §101. 



60 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 

Or such ambiguous giving out, to note 

That you know aught of me ; — this not to do, 

So grace and mercy at your most need help you, 180 

Swear. 

Ghost. [Beneath"] Swear. 

Hamlet. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit ! {They swear] So, 
gentlemen, 
With all my love I do commend me to you ; 
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is 185 

May do, t' express his love and friending to you, 
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together ; 
And still your fingers on your lips, I pray. 
The time is out of joint : O cursed spite, 
That ever I was born to set it right ! 190 

Nay, come ; let 's go together. \Exeunt] 

179. aught Qi I ought Q2FL 184. I do Fi | F2F3F4 omit. 

183. [They swear] Globe Camb. 190. set F1F2 I see F3F4. 

178. giving out : intimation, profession of knowledge. Cf . Measure 
for Measure, I, iv, 54 ; Othello, IV, i, 131. — to note. An anacoluthon 
which Theobald tried to avoid by reading ' denote.' 

186. friending : friendliness. From the verb ' friend.' Cf . Henry V f 
IV, v, 17 ; Measure for Measure, IV, ii, 116; Troilus and Cressida, 
I, ii, 84. 



ACT II 

Scene I. A room in Polonius's house 

Enter Polonius and Reynaldo 

Polonius. Give him this money and these notes, Reynaldo. 

Reynaldo. I will, my lord. 

Polonius. You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo, 
Before you visit him, to make inquire 
Of his behaviour. 

Reynaldo. My lord, I did intend it. 5 

Polonius. Marry, well said, very well said. Look you, sir, 
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris ; 
And how, and who, what means, and where they keep; 
What company, at what expense ; and finding 
By this encompassment and drift of question 10 

A room . . . house Globe | Ff omit. 3. marvellous Q5 | meruiles Q2 \ 

-^ Enter . . . Reynaldo | Enter . . . maruels Fi | marvels F2F3F4. 
Reynoldo Ff | Enter old Polonius 4. to make inquire Q2 I you make 

with his man or two Q2. inquiry Ff . 

1. this Q2I his Ff. — Reynaldo Q2 6. As in Q2. Two lines in Ff. — 

I Reynoldo Ff (so in lines 3, 15). Marry Ff | Mary Q2Q3Q4. 

4. inquire : inquiry. Cf. Pericles, III, Prologue, line 22. 

7. me: forme. See Abbott, § 220. — Danskers: Danes. 

8. keep: live. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, III, iii, 19. 

10-12. This seems illogical, and would be so in any mouth but a 
politician's, as implying that general inquiries would come to the 
point faster than particular ones. But 'your,' in line 12, is used 
indefinitely almost in the sense of 'any'; ' it,' too, is used indefinitely; 

61 



62 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

That they do know my son, come you more nearer 

Than your particular demands will touch it ; 

Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him; 

As thus, ' I know his father and his friends, 

And in part him.' Do you mark this, Reynaldo? 15 

Reynaldo. Ay, very well, my lord. 

Polonius. 'And in part him; but,' you may say, 'not 
well : 
But, if 't be he I mean, he 's very wild, 
Addicted so and so ' ; and there put on him 
What forgeries you please ; marry, none so rank 20 

As may dishonour him ; take heed of that ; 
But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips 
As are companions noted and most known 
To youth and liberty. 

Reynaldo. As gaming, my lord ? 

Polonius. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling, 
Drabbing ; you may go so far. 26 

Reynaldo. My lord, that would dishonour him. 

Polonius. Faith, no ; as you may season it in the charge. 
You must not put another scandal on him, 
That he is open to incontinency ; 3° 

11-12. nearer Than Capell | neerer 14. As Q2 I And Ff. 

Then Q2F1 1 neere Than F2. 28. no Ff | Q2 omits. 

the scheme here laid down is to steal upon the truth by round- 
about statements and questions, or, as it is put in line 65, "By 
indirections find directions out." 

19. put on him : lay to his charge. Cf. Macbeth, II, iv, 26. 

28. season: qualify, mitigate. Cf. I, ii, 192. 

30. open to incontinency : habitually incontinent. In previous edi- 
tions of Hudson's Shakespeare 'open of was read in the sense of 
• openly,' and so ' shamelessly.' Polonius is fond of nice distinctions. 



scene I HAMLET 63 

That 's not my meaning : but breathe his faults so quaintly 
That they may seem the taints of liberty, 
The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind, 
A savageness in unreclaimed blood, 
Of general assault. 

Reynaldo. But, my good lord, — 35 

Polonius. Wherefore should you do this? 

Reynaldo. Ay, my lord, 

I would know that. 

Polonius. Marry, sir, here 's my drift, 

And I believe it is a fetch of warrant : 
You laying these slight sullies on my son, 
As 't were a thing a little soil'd i' the working, 40 

Mark you, 

Your party in converse, him you would sound, 
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes 
The youth you breathe of guilty, be assur'd 
He closes with you in this consequence ; 45 

' Good sir,' or so ; or ' friend,' or ' gentleman,' 
According to the phrase or the addition 
Of man and country. 

Reynaldo. Very good, my lord. 

31. breathe F2 I breath Fi. 41-42- One line in Ff. 

38. warrant Ff | wit Q2 Globe. 47. or Q2 I and Ff. 

31. breathe: "whisper. Cf . line 44 ; I, iii, 1 30. — quaintly: ingeniously. 

34-35. A savageness . . . assault : a wildness of untamed blood, 
such as youth is generally assailed by. 

38. fetch of warrant : allowable stratagem or device. 

43-44. Having at any time seen the youth you whisper of guilty 
of the before-mentioned vices. 

45. closes . . . consequence : agrees with you in this conclusion. 

47. addition : title. Cf . I, iv, 20. 



64 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Polonius. And then, sir, does he this — he does — what 
was I about to say ? By the mass, I was about to say some- 
thing; where did I leave? 51 

Reynaldo. At ' closes in the consequence ' ; at * friend 
or so,' and * gentleman.' 

Polonius. At 'closes in the consequence,' — ay, marry; 
He closes thus : ' I know the gentleman ; 55 

I saw him yesterday, or t' other day, 
Or then, or then, with such, or such, and, as you say, 
There was he gaming, there o'ertook in 's rouse, 
There falling out at tennis ; ' or perchance, 
* I saw him enter such a house of sale.' 60 

See you now, 

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth ; 
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, 
With windlasses and with assays of bias, 
By indirections find directions out : 65 

49-53. Verse in Ff. you thus Ff. 

50. By the mass Q2 I Ff omit. 57. or such Q2 I and such Ff . 

55. closes thus Q2 I closes with 62. carp | carpe Q2 I cape Ff. 

55. He closes thus. This, the Quarto reading, is more character- 
istic than that of the Folios. " Polonius recovers his thought, but 
not the phrase with which he had introduced it, and naively adopts 
Reynaldo 's blundering report of what he had said." — Herford. 

58. o'ertook in 's rouse : overcome with drink. Cf. I, ii, 127. 

63. of wisdom and of reach : of far-reaching wisdom. 

64. windlasses : circuitous paths. The word is so used more than 
once in Golding's Ovid. — assays of bias : trials of inclination. 
' Bias ' is a technical expression in bowls for the curve the bowl 
takes in consequence of its special shape or weighting. See Murray. 
Bowls was a favorite Elizabethan game, and Shakespeare has several 
figures taken from it. Cf. Ill, i, 65; Henry V, II, ii, 188; V, ii, 33; 
King John, III, iv, 128; Richard II, III, iv, 3-5. 



scene I HAMLET 65 

So, by my former lecture and advice, 

Shall you my son. You have me, have you not ? 

Reynaldo. My lord, I have. 

Polonius. God b' wi' you ! fare you well. 

Reynaldo. Good my lord ! 

Polonius. Observe his inclination in yourself. 70 

Reynaldo. I shall, my lord. 

Polonius. And let him ply his music. 

Reynaldo. Well, my lord. 

Polonius. Farewell ! \_Exit Reynaldo] 

Enter Ophelia 

How now, Ophelia ! what 's the matter ? 
Ophelia. O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted ! 
Polonius. With what, i' the name o' God ? 75 

Ophelia. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, 
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac'd ; 

68. b' wi' you I buy you Ff. 74. 0, my lord Q2 I Alas Ff. 

73. Scene II Pope. — Enter Ophe- 75. God Q2 I Heauen Ff. 

lia I in Ff after line 72. 76. closet Q2 Globe | chamber Ff. 

67. You have . . . not : you understand me, do you not ? 

68. God b' wi' you. The old phrase ' God be with you,' given in 
Macbeth, III, i, 44, is here in process of abbreviation to the ' good- 
bye ' of to-day. The Folio ' God buy you ' represents probably the 
Elizabethan pronunciation. 

70. Either, Use your own eyes upon him as well as learn from 
others ; or, Comply with his inclinations so as to draw him out. An 
obsolete sense of ' observe ' is, ' humor,' ' gratify.' Cf. Julius Ccesar, IV, 
iii, 45. Dowden suggests that ' in ' here may mean ' with regard to.' 

72. Let him fiddle his secrets all out. " Let him go his own way 
without interference." — E. K. Chambers. Schmidt, Vischer, and 
others take the expression literally. 

75. God. The ' Heaven ' of the Folios is an obvious concession to 
the famous statute of 1605 "to restrain the abuses of Players." 



66 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

No hat upon his head ; his stockings foul'd, 

Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ankle ; 

Pale as his shirt ; his knees knocking each other ; 80 

And with a look so piteous in purport 

As if he had been loosed out of hell 

To speak of horrors, he comes before me. 

Polonius. Mad for thy love ? 

Ophelia. My lord, I do not know, 

But truly I do fear it. 

Polonius. What said he? 85 

Ophelia. He took me by the wrist and held me hard ; 
Then goes he to the length of all his arm, 
And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow, 
He falls to such perusal of my face 

As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so ; 90 

At last, a little shaking of mine arm, 
And thrice his head thus waving up and down, 
He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound 
That it did seem to shatter all his bulk 
And end his being : that done, he lets me go ; 95 

And with his head over his shoulder turn'd 
He seem'd to find his way without his eyes ; 
For out o' doors he went without their help, 
And to the last bended their light on me. 

Polonius. Come, go with me ; I will go seek the king. 
This is the very ecstasy of love, 101 

93. piteous I pittious Q2F1 1 hide- 96. shoulder Q2 | shoulders Ff. 
ous F2F8F4. 98. help F3F4 Delius | helpe FiFa 

94. That Ff Delius | As Q2 Globe. | helps Q2 Globe Camb. 

79. down-gyved : slipped down to the ankle like fetters. 

94. bulk: frame. Sometimes it meant specifically 'the breast.' 

101. ecstasy: madness. Cf. Ill, i, 160; III, iv, 74, 136, 137. 



scene I HAMLET 6f 

Whose violent property fordoes itself 

And leads the will to desperate undertakings, 

As oft as any passion under heaven 

That does afflict our natures. I am sorry. 105 

What, have you given him any hard words of late? 

Ophelia. No, my good lord ; but, as you did command, 
I did repel his letters and denied 
His access to me. 

Polonius. That hath made him mad. 

I am sorry that with better heed and judgment no 

I had not quoted him. I fear'd he did but trifle, 
And meant to wreck thee ; but beshrew my jealousy \ 
By heaven, it is as proper to our age 
To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions 
As it is common for the younger sort 115 

To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king : 
This must be known ; which, being kept close, might move 
More grief to hide than hate to utter love. 
Come. [Exeunt] 

no. heed | heede Q2 I speed Ff. wracke F1F2. 

in. fear'd Q2 I fears F1F2. 113. By heaven Q2 I It seemes F1F2. 

112. wreck Theobald | wrack Q2I 119. Come Q2 I Ff omit. 

102. fordoes: destroys. Cf. V, i, 210. See Murray. 

in. quoted: observed. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, I, iv, 31: "What 
curious eye doth quote deformities ? " 

113-116. We old men are as apt to overreach ourselves with our 
own policy as the young are to fail through lack of thought. "In this 
admirable scene, Polonius, who is throughout the skeleton of his 
former skill in state-craft, hunts the trail of policy at a dead scent, 
supplied by the weak fever-smell in his own nostrils." — Coleridge. 

117-118. The sense is rather obscure, but appears to be, By keep- 
ing Hamlet's love secret we may cause more of grief to others than 
of hatred on his part by disclosing it. 



68 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Scene II. A room in the castle 

Flourish. Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, Guilden- 
stern, and Attendants 

King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guild enstern ! 
Moreover that we much did long to see you, 
The need we have to use you did provoke 
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard 
Of Hamlet's transformation ; so I call it, 5 

Since not th' exterior nor the inward man 
Resembles that it was. What it should be, 
More than his father's death, that thus hath put him 
So much from th' understanding of himself, 
I cannot dream of. I entreat you both, 10 

That, being of so young days brought up with him, 
And since so neighbour' d to his youth and humour, 
That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court 
Some little time ; so by your companies 
To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather, 15 

So much as from occasions you may glean, 
Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus, 
That, open'd, lies within our remedy. 

Scene II | Scene III Pope. — A 6. Since not Ff Delius | Sith nor 

room . . . castle Capell | Ff omit. — Q2 Globe Camb. 

Flourish . . . Attendants Globe | En- 10. dream | dreame Q2 I deeme Fi. 

ter King, Queene, Rosincrane, and 12. since Ff I sith Q2. — humour 

Guildensterne Cumalijs (i.e. cum Ff | hauior Q2. 

aliis) Fi. 16. occasions Ff | occasion Q2. 

5. I call Ff Delius | call Q2 Globe. 17. Omitted in Ff. 

1. Rosencrantz .... Guildenstern. See Introduction, Sources. 
Two Danish nobles named Rosincrance and Guildensterne were 
students at Padua in 1 587-1 589 and in 1603, and a Danish courtier 
called Rosencrance attended the coronation of James I. 



scene ii HAMLET 69 

Queen. Good gentlehien, he hath much talk'd of you ; 
And sure I am two men there are not living 20 

To whom he more adheres. If it will please you 
To show us so much gentry and good-will 
As to expend your time with us awhile 
For the supply and profit of our hope, 
Your visitation shall receive such thanks 25 

As fits a king's remembrance. 

Rosencrantz. Both your majesties 

Might, by the sovereign power you have of us, 
Put your dread pleasures more into command 
Than to entreaty. 

Guildenstern. We both obey, 
And here give up ourselves, in the full bent 30 

To lay our services freely at your feet, 
To be commanded. 

King. Thanks, Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern. 

Queen. Thanks, Guildenstern and gentle Rosencrantz : 
And I beseech you instantly to visit 35 

My too much changed son. Go, some of ye, 
And bring the gentlemen where Hamlet is. 

Guildenstern. Heavens make our presence and our 
practices 

29. We Ff I But we Q2 Globe. ye Ff | you Q2.. 

36. As in Q2. Two lines in Ff . — 37. the Ff | these Q2. 

22. gentry : courtesy, that which is characteristic of a gentleman. 
"Gentlemanlinesse or gentry, kindlinesse, naturall goodnesse. Genero- 
sitas" — Baret's A Ivearie. Cf. V, ii, 109. 

24. supply and profit : support and realization. 

30. bent : extent of inclination. ' Bent ' in this sense is a metaphor 
taken from archery ; it means literally the extent to which a bow may 
be drawn. Cf. ' top of my bent,' III, ii, 357. 



(70 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act II 

Pleasant and helpful to him ! 

Queen. Ay, amen ! 39 

[i^z/72/RosENCRANTZ, Guildenstern, and some Attendants] 

Enter Polonius 

Polonius. Th' ambassadors from Norway, my good lord, 
Are joyfully return'd. 41 

King. Thou still hast been the father of good news. 

Polonius. Have I, my lord? Assure you, my good liege, 
I hold my duty, as I hold my soul, 

Both to my God and to my gracious king ; 45 

And I do think, or else this brain of mine 
Hunts not the trail of policy so sure 
• As it hath us'd to do, that I have found 
The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy. 

King. O, speak of that ; that I do long to hear. 50 

Polonius. Give first admittance to th' ambassadors ; 
My news shall be the fruit to that great feast. 

King. Thyself do grace to them, and bring them in. 

[Exit Polonius] 
He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found 
The head and source of all your son's distemper. 55 

Queen. I doubt it is no other but the main; 
His father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage. 

King. Well, we shall sift him. 

39. Ay Q2 I Ff omit. 52. fruit I fririte Q2 I newes F1F2. 

45. and Q2 I one Ff. 53- [Exit Polonius] Ff omit. 

48. it hath Q2 I I haue Ff. 54- dear Gertrude | deere Gertrard 

50. I do Ff I do I Q2. Q2 I sweet Queene, that Fi. 

42. still: constantly. Cf. I, i, 122 ; As You Like It, I, ii, 239. 

43. Assure : I assure. Cf. 'beseech,' The Tempest, I, ii, 473; II, i, I. 
56. doubt: fear. — the main : the matter of chief interest. 



scene ii HAMLET 71 

Re-enter Polonius, with Voltimand and Cornelius 

Welcome, my good friends \ 
Say, Voltimand, what from our brother Norway? 

Voltimand. Most fair return of greetings and desires. 60 
Upon our first, he sent out to suppress 
His nephew's levies, which to him appear'd 
To be a preparation 'gainst the Polack ; 
But better look'd into, he truly found 

It was against your highness : whereat griev'd, 65 

That so his sickness, age, and impotence 
Was falsely borne in hand, sends out arrests 
On Fortinbras ; which he, in brief, obeys ; 
Receives rebuke from Norway, and in fine 
Makes vow before his uncle never more 70 

To give th' assay of arms against your majesty. 
Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy, 
Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee, 
And his commission to employ those soldiers, 
So levied as before, against the Polack ; 75 

With an entreaty, herein further shown, [Giving a paper] 
That it might please you to give quiet pass 
Through your dominions for this enterprise, 

58. Scene IV Pope. — Re-enter 73. three Ff | threescore Q2. 

...Cornelius | Enter Polonius, 76. \_Givhig a paper] Malone I Ft 

Voltumand, and Cornelius Fi (after omit, 
line 57). — my Q2 I Ff omit. 78. this Q2 I his Ff. 

61. Upon our first : immediately after our first audience. 

64. ' Truly ' modifies ' was ' and not ' found.' 

67. borne in hand : deluded, beguiled (cf. Fr. maintenir, from late 
Lat. mamitenere). Cf. Macbeth, III, i, 81. 

71. assay of arms : test of war. In III, iii, 69 ' assay ' means ' trial,' 
but in Henry V, I, ii, 151, it means ' attack,' ' onset.' 



72 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

On such regards of safety and allowance 
As therein are set down. 

King. It likes us well ; 80 

And at our more consider'd time we'll read, 
Answer, and think upon this business. 
Meantime we thank you for your well-took labour. 
Go to your rest ; at night we '11 feast together : 
Most welcome home ! [Exeunt Voltimand and Cornelius] 

Polonius. This business is well ended. 85 

My liege, and madam, to expostulate 
What majesty should be, what duty is, 
Why day is day, night night, and time is time, 
Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time. 
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, 90 

And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, 
I will be brief. Your noble son is mad : 
Mad call I it ; for, to define true madness, 
What is 't but to be nothing else but mad ? 
But let that go. 

Queen. More matter, with less art. 95 

Polonius. Madam, I swear I use no art at all. 
That he is mad, 't is true ; 't is true 't is pity, 
And pity 't is 't is true : a foolish figure ! 

85. [Exeunt . . . Cornelius] Ca- very well Ff. 

pell I Exit Ambass. Ff. — well Q2 I 98. 't is 't is Q2 I it is Ff. 

79. regards of safety and allowance : pledges of safety to the 
country and terms of permission for the troops to pass. 

80. likes : pleases. Cf. V, ii, 255 ; Henry V, IV, i, 16 ; IV, in, 77 ; 
King Lear, II, ii, 96. Similarly ' dislikes,' in Othello, II, iii, 49. 

81. more consider'd time : time for further consideration. 

86. expostulate : discuss, " debate (a matter) as an aggrieved per- 
son." — Murray. Cf. The Two Gentlemen of Verona, III, i, 251. 



scene ii HAMLET 73 

But farewell it, for I will use no art. 

Mad let us grant him then ; and now remains 100 

That we find out the cause of this effect, 

Or rather say, the cause of this defect, 

For this effect defective comes by cause : 

Thus it remains, and the remainder thus. 

Perpend. 105 

I have a daughter — have whilst she is mine — 

Who, in her duty and obedience, mark, 

Hath given me this ; now gather, and surmise. 

\_Reads the letter] 

To the celestial and my soul's idol, the most beautified 
Ophelia, — no 

That 's an ill phrase, a vile phrase ; ' beautified ' is a vile 
phrase. But you shall hear. Thus : 

In her excellent white bosom, these, etc. 
Queen. Came this from Hamlet to her? 
Polonius. Good madam, stay awhile. I will be faithful. 

[Reads'] 
Doubt thou the stars are fire, 116 

Doubt that the sun doth move, 
Doubt truth to be a liar, 
But never doubt I love. 

106. whilst F2 ! whil'st Fi | while Q2. 113. etc. Q2 I Ff omit. 

108. [Reads the letter] The Letter Ff. 115. [Reads] Letter Q2 I Ff omit. 

105. Perpend: consider. "A word only used by Pistol, Polonius, 
and the clowns." — Schmidt. 

113. these. A common ending to the superscription of a letter. 
Hamlet's letter is couched in conventional euphuistic phrases. 

118-121. In the double meanings of ' doubt ' (meaning ' suspect,' 
for example, in line 1 18) and ' reckon ' ('number metrically,' as Delius 
interprets) are characteristic word quibbles. 



74 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act II 

O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers. I have not 
art to reckon my groans ; but that I love thee best, O most 
best, believe it. Adieu. 122 

Thine evermore, most dear lady, 

Whilst this machine is to him, Hamlet. 

This in obedience hath my daughter shown me, 125 

And more above, hath his solicitings, 

As they fell out by time, by means, and place, 

All given to mine ear. 

King. But how hath she 

Receiv'd his love? 

Polonius. What do you think of me? 

King. As of a man faithful and honourable. 130 

Polonius. I would fain prove so. But what might you 
think, 
When I had seen this hot love on the wing — 
As I perceiv'd it, I must tell you that, 
Before my daughter told me — what might you, 
Or my dear majesty your queen here, think, 135 

If I had play'd the desk or table-book, 
Or given my heart a winking, mute and dumb, 
Or look'd upon this love with idle sight ; 

125. shown Q2 I shew'd Ff. Q2. — solicitings Q2 I soliciting Ff. 

126. above F2 I aboue Fi | about 132. this F1F2 I his F3F4. 

124. While this body is his ; while he lives. ' Machine ' originally 
meant 'a structure of any kind.' See Murray. Cf. Wordsworth's 
" the very pulse of the machine," in She was a Phantom of Delight. 

136. By keeping dark about the matter. A ' desk ' or ' table- 
book' does not prate of what it contains. A 'table-book' is the 
'tables' of I, v, 107. 

137. If I had given my heart a hint to be mute about their pas- 
sion. Cf. the original meaning of ' connivance,' ' a winking at.' 



scene ii HAMLET 75 

What might you think ? No, I went round to work, 

And my young mistress thus I did bespeak : 140 

' Lord Hamlet is a prince, out of thy star ; 

This must not be.' And then I precepts gave her, 

That she should lock herself from his resort, 

Admit no messengers, receive no tokens. 

Which done, she took the frrits of my advice ; 145 

And he, repulsed — a short tale to make — 

Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, 

Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, 

Thence to a lightness, and by this declension 

Into the madness wherein now he raves, 150 

And all we mourn for. 

King. Do you think 'tis this? 

Queen. It may be, very likely. 

Polonius. Hath there been such a time — I 'd fain know 
that — 
That I have positively said ' 'Tis so,' 
When it prov'd otherwise? 

King. Not that I know. 155 

Polonius. Take this from this, if this be otherwise. 
If circumstances lead me, I will find 

241. star I sphere F2F3F4. 150. wherein Q2 I whereon Ff. 

142. precepts Ff| prescripts Q2 Globe. 151. mourn | mourne Q2|wail Ff_ 

139. round : straightforwardly. Some interpret « round ' in the 
sense of 'straightway.' Cf. Ill, i, 183; As You Like It, V, iii, 11. 

141. out of thy star : not in thy destiny. Another allusion to the 
supposed influence of the stars on the fortune of life. 

156. Theobald suggested, and Pope added here as a stage direc- 
tion, 'Pointing to his head and shoulders.' " But see lines 166, 167. 
May not ' this from this ' mean the chamberlain's staff or wand and 
the hand that bears it ? " — Dowden. 



76 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed 
Within the centre. 

King. How may we try it further ? 

Polonius. You know, sometimes he walks four hours 
together 160 

Here in the lobby. 

Queen. So he does, indeed. 

Polonius. At such a time I '11 loose my daughter to him : 
Be you and I behind an arras then ; 
Mark the encounter : if he love her not, 
And be not from his reason fall'n thereon, 165 

Let me be no assistant for a state, 
But keep a farm and carters. 

King. We will try it. 

Enter Hamlet, reading on a book 

Queen. But look where sadly the poor wretch comes 

reading. 
Polonius. Away, I do beseech you, both away ; 

160-161. Three lines in Ff. — four 168. Scene V Pope. — Enter 

F3F4 I f oure F1F2 I for Hanmer. — Hamlet . . . Ff | Globe Camb omit 

does I dooes Q2 I ha's Fi | has F2. on a book and introduce after pres- 

167. But Q2 I And Ff. ently in line 170. 

159. centre: centre of the earth, which, according to the old 
Ptolemaic astronomy, was the centre of the solar system or universe. 

163. In Shakespeare's time the chief rooms of houses were lined 
with tapestry hangings, which were suspended on frames, some 
distance from the walls, to keep them from being rotted by the 
damp. These tapestries were called ' arras,' from the town Arras, 
in northern France, famed for the manufacture of the fabric. 

168. ' Wretch ' was sometimes used as a strong term of endear- 
ment with a dash of pity in it. Cf . Othello, III, iii, 90 : " Excellent 
wretch ! Perdition catch my soul, But I do love thee ! " 



scene ii HAMLET yj 

I '11 board him presently. 

\_Exeunt King, Queen, and Attendants] 
0, give me leave. 17a 

How does my good Lord Hamlet? 

Hamlet. Well, God-a-mercy. 

Polonius. Do you know me, my lord? 

Hamlet. Excellent well ; you 're a fishmonger. 

Polonius. Not I, my lord. 175 

Hamlet. Then I would you were so honest a man. 

Polonius. Honest, my lord ! 

Hamlet. Ay, sir ; to be honest, as this world goes, is to 
be one man pick'd out of ten thousand. 

Polonius. That 's very true, my lord. 180 

Hamlet. For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, 
being a good kissing carrion, — Have you a daughter ? 

Polonius. I have, my lord. 

Hamlet. Let her not walk i' th' sun; conception is a 
blessing, but not as your daughter may conceive. Friend, 
look to 't. 186 

Polonius. \_Aside~\ How say you by that? Still harping 
on my daughter : yet he knew me not at first ; he said I was 

179. ten Q5 I tenne Q2 I two Ff. 185. not as Ff Globe Delius | as 

182. good Q2F1 I God Hanmer Q2 Clar Camb. 

(War burton conj.) Globe Delius. 187. [Aside] Capell | Ff omit. 

170. board : accost, address. — presently : immediately. 

174. fishmonger. There is ample evidence that this was a coarse 
slang term of contempt in Shakespeare's day. Of course the ex- 
pression may imply that Polonius has come to 'fish' his secret, 
the old angler that he is. Cf. II, i, 62. 

182. a good kissing carrion: carrion fit for kissing (by the sun). 
Cf . the common expression ' good haymaking weather.' 

187. by: concerning. See Abbott, § 145. 



78 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act n 

a fishmonger ; he is far gone, far gone : and truly in my 
youth I suffer'd much extremity for love ; very near this. 
I '11 speak to him again. What do you read, my lord? 191 

Hamlet. Words, words, words. 

Polonius. What is the matter, my lord? 

Hamlet. Between who? 

Polonius. I mean, the matter that you read, my lord. 195 

Hamlet. Slanders, sir ; for the satirical rogue says here 
that old men have gray beards, that their faces are wrinkl'd, 
their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum, and 
that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most 
weak hams; all which, sir, though I most powerfully and 
potently believe, yet I hold it not honesty to have it thus 
set down ; for you yourself, sir, should be old as I am, if, 
like a crab, you could go backward. 203 

Polonius. [Aside"] Though this be madness, yet there 
is method in 't. Will you walk out of the air, my lord? 20$ 

Hamlet. Into my grave? 

Polonius. Indeed, that is out o' th' air. [Aside] How 
pregnant sometimes his replies are ! a happiness that often 
madness hits on, which reason and sanity could not so pros- 
perously be deliver'd of. I will leave him, and suddenly 

195. that you read Q2 1 you meane F1F2I your selfe Q2. — should be old 
F1F2. Ff I shall grow old Q2. 

196. rogue Q2 I slaue Ff. 204. [Aside] Johnson | Ff omit. 

198. amber and Q2 1 Amber, or Ff . 204-205. Verse in Ff . 

199. lack I lacke Q2 I locke F1F2. 206. grave? Ff | graue Q2. 

— most Q2 I Ff omit. 210-211. and suddenly . . . be- 

202. you yourself | you your selfe tween him | Q2 omits. 

194. who. For neglect in the inflection of 'who,' see Abbott, § 274. 
Hamlet interprets 'matter' as both 'subject-matter' and 'cause of 
dispute.' 

196. the satirical rogue. Probably Juvenal. Cf. Satires, X, 188. 

208. pregnant : clever. — happiness : felicity of expression. 



scene ii HAMLET 79 

contrive the means of meeting between him and my daugh- 
ter. My honourable lord, I will most humbly take my leave 
of you. 213 

Hamlet. You cannot, sir, take from me any thing that I 
will more willingly part withal, — \_Aside] except my life, 
except my life, except my life. 216 

Polonius. Fare you well, my lord. 

Hamlet. These tedious old fools ! 

Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern 

Polonius. You go to seek the Lord Hamlet ; there he is. 

Rosencrantz. \_To Polonius] God save you, sir 1 220 

\_Exit Polonius] 

Guildenstern. Mine honour'd lord ! 

Rosencrantz. My most dear lord ! 

Hamlet. My excellent good friends ! How dost thou, 
Guildenstern? Ah, Rosencrantz 1 Good lads, how do 
ye both? 225 

Rosencrantz. As the indifferent children of the earth. 

Guildenstern. Happy, in that we are not overhappy ; 
On Fortune's cap we are not the very button. 

Hamlet. Nor the soles of her shoe? 

Rosencrantz. Neither, my lord. 230 

215. will Ff I will not Q2. 220. Scene VI Pope. — [ To Po- 

215-216. [Aside] White | Ff omit. lonius] Malone I Ff omit. — [Exit 

— except my life | three times as Polonius] Capell | Ff omit. 

here in Q2 1 except my life, my life Ff. 221. Mine Ff | My Q2. 

219. Enter Rosencrantz and 224. Ah | A Q2 I Oh Ff. 

Guildenstern | after there he is 225. ye Ff | you Q2 Camb. 

inFf. 

215. withal: with. The emphatic form. See Abbott, § 196. 

225. Corson comments on the playfulness implied in 'ye.' 

226. indifferent: middling, tolerably well off. Cf. Ill, i, 122. 



80 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Hamlet. Then you live about her waist, or in the middle 
of her favours ? What 's the news ? 

Rosencrantz. None, my lord, but that the world's grown 
honest. 

Hamlet. Then is doomsday near ; but your news is not 
true*. Let me question more in particular. What have you, 
my good friends, deserv'd at the hands of Fortune, that she 
sends you to prison hither? 238 

Guildenstern. Prison, my lord ! 

Hamlet. Denmark 's a prison. 240 

Rosencrantz. Then is the world one. 

Hamlet. A goodly one ; in which there are many con- 
fines, wards, and dungeons, Denmark being one o' th' worst. 

Rosencrantz. We think not so, my lord. 

Hamlet. Why, then 't is none to you ; for there is noth- 
ing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so : to me it 
is a prison. 247 

Rosencrantz. Why, then your ambition makes it one; 
't is too narrow for your mind. 

Hamlet. O God, I could be bounded in a nut-shell and 
count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have 
bad dreams. 2 5 2 

Guildenstern. Which dreams, indeed, are ambition ; for 
the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow 
of a dream. 255 

236-265. Let . . . attended | Q2 omits. 

252. bad dreams. " Malone — perhaps by a printer's error — read 
1 had dreams,' a noble emendation, as Johnson might have called it, 
attained probably by accident." — Dowden. 

254. very substance of the ambitious: that seemingly most sub- 
stantial thing which the ambitious pursue. Cf. Burke's saying 
(Speech at Bristol on Declining the Poll): "What shadows we are, 



scene ii HAMLET 8 1 

Hamlet. A dream itself is but a shadow. 

Rosencrantz. Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and 
light a quality that it is but a shadow's shadow. 

Hamlet. Then are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs 

and outstretch'd heroes the beggars' shadows. Shall we to 

the court? for, by my fay, I cannot reason. 261 

Rosencrantz. ] TTT „: 

_ \ We 11 wait upon you. 

GUILDENSTERN. J 

261. fay Pope | fey Ff. 

and what shadows we pursue." But perhaps the greatest commen- 
tary on this passage in Hamlet are the words of Prospero, The Tem- 
pest, IV, i, 156-158 : 

We are such stuff 

As dreams are made on, and our little life 
Is rounded with a sleep. 

260-261. outstretch'd : glorified. Delius thinks that Hamlet has 
in mind strutting stage heroes, but may not the allusion be to the 
sculptured images of kings and heroes on their monuments ? Ham- 
let is here playing or fencing with words, and seems to lose him- 
self in the riddles he is making. The meaning is anything but clear ; 
perhaps was not meant to be understood. He says that he ' cannot 
reason.' But ' bodies ' is no doubt put for ' substance ' or ' sub- 
stances,' and the sense appears to depend partly upon the fact that 
' substance ' and ' shadow ' are antithetic and correlative terms, as 
there can be no shadow without a substance to cast it. Dr. Buck- 
nill's comment is to the point : 

If ambition is but a shadow, something beyond ambition must be the 
substance from which it is thrown. If ambition, represented by a king, is a 
shadow, the antitype of ambition, represented by a beggar, must be the 
opposite of the shadow, that is, the substance. 

261. fay : faith. ' Fay,' ' fey ' (the Folio spelling) " passed into 
English from contemporary French about 1300, and for a time was 
almost as common as the earlier form ('faith '), especially in certain 
senses, and in phrases such as 'par fay,' 'by my. fay' (Old Fr. par 
fei, par mafei)." — Murray. 



82 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Hamlet. No such matter : I will not sort you with the 
rest of my servants ; for, to speak to you like an honest man, 
I am most dreadfully attended. But, in the beaten way of 
friendship, what make you at Elsinore ? 266 

Rosencrantz. To visit you, my lord ; no other occasion. 

Hamlet. Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks; 
but I thank you : and sure, dear friends, my thanks are too 
dear a halfpenny. Were you not sent for ? Is it your own 
inclining ? Is it a free visitation ? Come, deal justly with 
me : come, come ; nay, speak. 272 

Guildenstern. What should we say, my lord ? 

Hamlet. Why, any thing, but to the purpose. You were 
sent for; and there is a kind of confession in your looks 
which your modesties have not craft enough to colour. I 
know the good king and queen have sent for you. 277 

Rosencrantz. To what end, my lord ? 

Hamlet. That you must teach me. But let me conjure 
you, by the rights of our fellowship, by the consonancy of 
our youth, by the obligation of our ever-preserv'd love, and 
by what more dear a better proposer could charge you 
withal, be even and direct with me, whether you were sent 
for, or no. 284 

Rosencrantz. [Aside to Guildenstern] What say you ? 

Hamlet. [Aside - ] Nay, then, I have an eye of you. If 
you love me, hold not off. 287 

268. even Ff | euer Q2. 275. kind of Q2 I Wnd Ff. 

265. dreadfully attended. Probably by the ' bad dreams ' of line 252. 

266. what make you : what are you doing? Cf. I, ii, 164. 

270. dear a. For omission of prepositions after adjectives that 
imply value or worth, see Abbott, § 198 a. 

286. of you: on you. Cf. 'of for 'over,' II, ii, 27. 



scene ii HAMLET 83 

Guildenstern. My lord, we were sent for. 

Hamlet. I will tell you why; so shall my anticipation 
prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the king and 
queen moult no feather. I have of late — but wherefore I 
know not — lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exer- 
cises ; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition 
that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile 
promontory ; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, 
this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted 
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me than 
a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece 
of work is a man ! how noble in reason ! how infinite in 
faculty ! in form and moving how express and admirable ! 
in action how like an angel ! in apprehension how like a 
god ! the beauty of the world ! the paragon of animals ! 
And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man 

290. discovery, and | discouery 296. firmament Q2 I Ff omit. 

of Ff. 299. a man Q2Ff Globe Delius | 

292-293. exercises Q2 1 exercise Ff. man Q6 Dyce. 
293. heavily Q2 I heauenly Ff. 300. faculty Ff | faculties Q2. 

290. prevent your discovery : anticipate your disclosure. Hamlet's 
fine" sense of honor is well shown here. He will not tempt the 
courtiers to any breach of confidence, and he means that, by telling 
them the reason, he will forestall and prevent their disclosure of it. 

296. fretted : adorned. See Skeat. Cf . Cymbeline, II, iv, 87-88 : 
" The roof o' the chamber With golden cherubins is fretted." 

300. express : " exact, fitted to its purpose, as the seal fits the 
stamp. So in Hebrews, i, 3, ' express image ' is the rendering of the 
Greek ^apa/cri^)." — Clar. 

303. The 'quintessence' (from the sixteenth century to the eight- 
eenth accented on the first syllable) was " the ' fifth essence ' of 
ancient and mediaeval philosophy, supposed to be the substance of 
which the heavenly bodies were composed and to be actually latent 
in all things." — Murray. 



84 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act n 

delights not me ; no, nor woman neither, though by your 
smiling you seem to say so. 305 

Rosencrantz. My lord, there was no such stuff in my 
thoughts. 

Hamlet. Why did you laugh then, when I said 'man 
delights not me ? : 

1 Rosencrantz. To think, my lord, if you delight not in 
man, what lenten entertainment the players shall receive 
from you ; we coted them on the way, and hither are they 
coming to offer you service. 313 

Hamlet. He that plays the king shall be welcome ; his 
majesty shall have tribute of me; the adventurous knight 
shall use his foil and target ; the lover shall not sigh gratis ; 
the humorous man shall end his part in peace ; the clown 
shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickle o' the sere ; 

308. then Q2 I Ff omit. 318. tickle o' the sere Globe 

317-318. the clown . . . serelQ2 omits. Camb I tickled a' th' sere Fi. 

311. lenten : meagre. Cf. Twelfth Night, I, v, 9. There may also 
be a sly allusion to an order of the Privy Council passed June 22, 
1600, "for the restraint of the immoderate use of play-houses," which 
instructed that no plays be given on Sunday or in Lent. This order 
was never enforced. 

312. coted : overtook and passed. A hunting, or coursing, term. 

317. humorous: crotchety, moody, subject to fits and starts, full of 
'humors.' Cf. note, I, iv, 27. Such a character part on the stage is 
always interesting. 

318. lungs. The lungs were always regarded as the seat of 
laughter. Cf. The Tempest, II, i, 173; As You Like It, II, vii, 30. — 
tickle o' the sere: easily moved to laughter. In 187 1 Dr. Brinsley 
Nicholson and the editors of the Clarendon Press Hamlet inde- 
pendently explained the figure here which had been a puzzle to all 
previous commentators. The ' sere ' (' sear,' ' serre ') is the catch of 
a gunlock that holds the hammer. Hamlet is praising ironically the 
extemporized witticisms of the clowns. 



scene ii HAMLET 85 

and the lady shall say her mind freely, or the blank verse 
shall halt for 't. What players are they? 320 

Rosencrantz. Even those you were wont to take such 
delight in, the tragedians of the city. 

Hamlet. How chances it they travel? their residence, 
both in reputation and profit, was better both ways. 

Rosencrantz. I think their inhibition comes by the means 
of the late innovation. 326 

Hamlet. Do they hold the same estimation they did when 
I was in the city? are they so follow'd? 

Rosencrantz. No, indeed, they are not. 

Hamlet. How comes it? do they grow rusty? 330 

321. such Q2 I Ff omit 330-354. Hamlet. How comes it ? 

328. they are Ff J are they Q2. ... his load too Ff | Q2 omits. 

319-320. If through delicacy ' the lady ' should omit anything, the 
halting verse will betray the omission. 

323. their residence: their remaining in the city. In 1601 Shake- 
speare's company, the Lord Chamberlain's, was in disgrace at court 
and, not improbably, the members ' travelled/ 

325. inhibition : stoppage of performances in the city. Not neces- 
sarily a legal ' prohibition,' though many editors find here a distinct 
allusion to such an 'order' as that referred to in note, line 311, or 
to the express 'inhibition' due to the visitation of the plague, 1603. 
But 'innovation,' followed by the account of the vogue of perform- 
ances by companies of children (Children of the Chapel, Children of 
Paul's, etc.) in the regular theatres, lines 332-337, suggests that this 
new craze had the effect of ' inhibiting ' for a while the regular per- 
formances. 

33 0- 354- The omission of this passage in the Quarto of 1604 is 
significant. After James's succession in May, 1603, the Lord Cham- 
berlain's Men were promoted to be the King's Men, and in the fol- 
lowing January 'the Children' became the Children of Her Majesty's 
Revels. How could the King's Men censure the Queen's Children ? 
By the time the First Folio was published this difficulty was far in 
the past. 



86 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Rosencrantz. Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted 
pace ; but there is, sir, an aerie of children, little eyases, that 
cry out on the top of question, and are most tyrannically 
clapp'd for 't : these are now the fashion, and so berattle 
the common stages — so they call them — that many wear- 
ing rapiers are afraid of goose-quills and dare scarce come 
thither. 337 

Hamlet. What, are they children? who maintains 'em? 
how are they escoted? Will they pursue the quality no 
longer than they can sing? will they not say afterwards, if 
they should grow themselves to common players — as it 
is most like, if their means are no better — their writers 

332. aerie | ayrie Fi | ayry F2. — 334. berattle F2 I be-ratled Fi, 

eyases Theobald | Yases Ff. 342. most like Pope | like most Ff. 

332. aerie : a sturdy brood. Originally ' nest of a bird of prey.' — 
eyases : young hawks taken from the nest to be trained. 

333- cr y °ut on the top of question : speak out shrilly on the burn- 
ing question of the hour. Thus ' cry' continues the figure in ' eyases.' 
In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare the interpretation 
adopted was that of Joseph Crosby, Exclaim against (lampoon) those 
who are at the top of their profession (or, the best productions of the 
dramatic pen). The general meaning of the whole passage is, Now 
that these children actors are all the rage, the regular profession 
suffers. With shrill voices discussing the question of the hour, they 
are noisily applauded, and they so berate the theatres where regular 
actors perform that well-known men, men of fashion (those ' wearing 
rapiers '), are afraid of being satirized by the children's playwrights 
and dare scarcely go to the play-houses. 

339. escoted : paid. " Escotter. Every one to pay his shot." — Cot- 
grave. — quality : actor's profession. Cf. line 420 ; The Two Gentlemen 
of Verona^ IV, i, 58. 

, 340. The ' children ' were choristers ; Hamlet refers to their 
voices ' changing.' 

342. means are no better. Cf. Sonnets, cxi, 3-4. 



scene ii HAMLET Sy 

do them wrong, to make them exclaim against their own 
succession ? 344 

Rosencrantz. Faith, there has been much to do on both 
sides; and the nation holds it no sin to tarre them to con- 
troversy ; there was for a while no money bid for argument, 
unless the poet and the player went to cuffs in the question. 

Hamlet. Is 't possible ? 349 

Guildenstern. O, there has been much throwing about 
of brains. 

Hamlet. Do the boys carry it away? 

Rosencrantz. Ay, that they do, my lord ; Hercules and 
his load too. 354 

Hamlet. It is not very strange ; for mine uncle is king 
of Denmark, and those that would make mows at him while 
my father liv'd, give twenty, forty, fifty, an hundred ducats 
apiece for his picture in little. 'S blood, there is something 
in this more than natural, if philosophy could find it out. 

[Flourish of trumpets within\ 

355- very Q2 I Ff omit. — mine Q2Q3Q4Q5 I mouthes Q6. 
Ff I my Q2. 357- fifty Q2 I Ff omit. 

356. mows I mowes Ff | mouths 358. 'S blood Q2 I Ff omit. 

343-344. exclaim . . . succession: run down their own future careers. 

346. tarre: set on. Cf. King John, IV, i, 117. 

347. argument: plot of a play. Cf. Ill, ii, 213. 

348. question. Either ' dialogue,' or more probably, as in line 333, 
'controversy,' 'subject of dispute.' Here, as in the speeches im- 
mediately preceding, there is a very pointed allusion to the bitter 
' war of the theatres,' in which all the leading dramatists of the time 
took part. See Sidney Lee's Life of Shakespeare, Chap. XIII. 

352. carry it away : carry all before them, win the day. 

353. The sign of the Globe theatre was Hercules bearing the world. 
356. mows : grimaces. In The Tempest, II, ii, 9, 'mow' is a verb. 
358. 'S blood: by God's blood. An oath by the eucharist. 



88 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Guildenstern. There are the players. 360 

Hamlet. Gentlemen, you are welcome to Elsinore. Your 
hands, come ; the appurtenance of welcome is fashion and 
ceremony : let me comply with you in this garb, lest my 
extent to the players, which, I tell you, must show fairly 
outward, should more appear like entertainment than yours. 
You are welcome; but my uncle-father and aunt-mother 
are deceiv'd. 367 

Guildenstern. In what, my dear lord ? 

Hamlet. I am but mad north-north-west ; when the wind 
is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. 37° 

Re-enter Polonius 

Polonius. Well be with you, gentlemen ! 

Hamlet. Hark you, Guildenstern ; and you too ; at each 
ear a hearer : that great baby you see there is not yet out 
of his swaddling clouts. 

363. this Q2 I the Ff. 370. handsaw Ff | hand saw Q2. 

365. outward Ff | outwards Q2. 374- swaddling Q2 I swathing Ff . 

362. appurtenance of : that which properly belongs to. 

363. comply: be formally courteous. Cf. V, ii, 181. — garb: fashion. 

364. extent : the reception I extend. Cf. Twelfth Night, IV, i, 57. 
369-370. I am . . . handsaw : I am mad only on one point ; I have 

quick enough perception of the reed facts of a case. The origin of 
the proverb has called forth much discussion. Some take 'hawk' in 
the sense of 'plasterer's tool' and let 'handsaw' alone. A more 
natural origin is in the sport of falconry; this would make 'hand- 
saw ' a corruption or misspelling of ' heronshaw ' or ' hernsew ' 
(' haw'nsaw ' is a pronunciation in Yorkshire and Northumberland 
to-day), old and dialectic forms of ' heron.' Heath, in an interesting 
note quoted in full in Clar and in Furness, shows that implicit in the 
proverb is the keenness of trained vision. The explanation which 
makes the expression but one of the common alliterative phrases in 



scene II HAMLET 89 

Rosencrantz. Happily he 's the second time come to 

them, for they say an old man is twice a child. 376 

Hamlet. I will prophesy he comes to tell me of the 

players; mark it. You say right, sir : o' Monday morning; 

'twas so, indeed. 

Polonius. My lord, I have news to tell you. 380 

Hamlet. My lord, I have news to tell you. When Roscius 
was an actor in Rome, — 

Polonius. The actors are come hither, my lord. 
Hamlet. Buz, buz ! 

Polonius. Upon mine honour, — 385 

Hamlet. Then came each actor on his ass, — 
Polonius. The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, 
comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pas- 
toral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, 
scene individable, or poem unlimited ; Seneca cannot be 

377. prophesy he I prophecy, he 382. was Q2 I Ff omit. 
Q2 I Prophesie. Hee Fi | Prophesie, 385. mine Ff | my Q2. 
He F2F3F4. 386. came Q2 I can Ff. 

378. 0' Capell I a Q2 I for a Fi. 390. individable | indiuible Ff. 

which two quite dissimilar things are coupled ('bull from a barn- 
door,' for example) misses the double meaning in most of Hamlet's 
sayings of this kind. 

375. Happily : haply, by chance. Cf. Twelfth Night, IV, ii; 57. 

378-379. You ... indeed. Spoken to mislead Polonius. 

384. Buz, buz! "An interjection used at Oxford, when any one 
began a story that was generally known before." — Blackstone. "A 
sound to command silence." — Schmidt. 

385-386. Polonius's "Upon mine honour" starts the poor joke, "If 
they are come on your honour, ' Then came each actor on his ass,' " 

— evidently a line from a ballad. 

390. scene individable: a play observing the unity of place, which 
demanded that the events should occur in one and the same place. 

— poem unlimited : a play which disregards the limitations of the 



90 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act II 

too heavy, nor Plautus too light. For the law of writ and 
the liberty, these are the only men. 39 2 

Hamlet. O Jephthah, judge of Israel, what a treasure 
hadst thou ! 

Polonius. What a treasure had he, my lord? 395 

Hamlet. Why, 

One fair daughter, and no more, 
The which he loved passing well. 

Polonius. \Aside\ Still on my daughter. 

393- Jephthah, judge of Israel | 395. What a £>2Ff | What Dyce. 

as quotation Pope Delius. 399- [Aside] Capell | Ff omit. 

unities of time and place. — Seneca. The influence of Seneca upon 
the early Elizabethan tragic drama was far-reaching. Gorboduc, the 
first English tragedy, is a careful imitation of a Senecan play. Even 
Hamlet shows Senecan influence. See Cunliffe's The Influence of 
Seneca on Elizabethan Tragedy. 

391-392. Plautus. The influence of Plautus upon the development 
of English comedy is similar to Senecan influence upon that of 
tragedy. Roister Bolster, the first English comedy, is an imitation 
of Plautus's Miles Gloriosus. Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors is 
founded on the Mencechmi. — the law of writ and the liberty : obliga- 
tion to be faithful to the text of written plays and freedom to impro- 
vise. "The regular (or classical) and the 'free' (romantic) methods 
of dramatic composition." — Herford. Hamlet is teasing the old fox, 
and quibbling between a logical and a literal sequence. The lines he 
quotes are from a popular Elizabethan ballad, registered in 1567 and 
1 568, entitled fephtha, fudge of Israel. The first stanza is as follows : 

I read that many years agoe, 

When Jepha, Judge of Israel, 
Had one fair daughter and no moe, 
Whom he loved so passing well. 
And as by lot, God wot, 
It came to passe, most like it was, 
Great warrs there should be, 
And who should be the chiefe but he, but he. 



scene ii HAMLET 9 1 

Hamlet. Am I not i' th' right, old Jephthah? 400 

Polonius. If you call me Jephthah, my lord, I have a 
daughter that I love passing well. 
Hamlet. Nay, that follows not. 
Polonius. What follows, then, my lord? 
Hamlet. Why, 405 

As by lot, God wot, 

and then you know, 

It came to pass, as most like it was, 

the first row of the pious chanson will show you more ; for 
look where my abridgments come. 4*o 

Enter four or five Players 

You're welcome, masters; welcome, all. I am glad to see 
thee well. Welcome, good friends. O, my old friend ! Thy 

409. pious chanson Q2Q3 I Pons 410. abridgments come Ff Rowe 

Chanson Fi | Pans Chanson F2F3F4 Furness I abridgment comes Q1Q2 
I godly Ballet Qi. Globe Camb Delius. 

409. row of the pious chanson: line (stanza, column) of the scriptural 
ballad. The Folio 'Pons Chanson' has doughty defenders, who refer 
to the pouts neufs, or popular songs with familiar airs, so called be- 
cause sold in Paris on the Pont Neuf. But the ' godly Ballet ' of the 
First Quarto is strong confirmation of the reading of the Second and 
Third Quartos. 

410. Perhaps Hamlet calls the players "my abridgments " in the 
same sense as he afterwards calls them " the abstracts and brief 
chronicles of the time." He probably implies the further meaning 
of ' abridging ' or ' cutting short ' his talk with Polonius. Or the ex- 
pression may mean that the players' office is to ' abridge the time,' 
or make it seem short — to minister pastimes. "With this sense cf. A 
Midsummer Night's Dream V, i, 39 : 

Say what abridgment have you for this evening, 
What masque, what music ? 



92 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act n 

face is valanc'd since I saw thee last ; com'st thou to beard 
me in Denmark ? What, my young lady and mistress ! By 'r 
lady, your ladyship is nearer to heaven than when I saw you 
last, by the altitude of a chopine. Pray God, your voice, 
like a piece of uncurrent gold, be not crack'd within the 
ring. Masters, you are all welcome. We '11 e'en to 't like 
French falconers, fly at any thing we see ; we '11 have a 
speech straight. Come, give us a taste of your quality; 
come, a passionate speech. 4 21 

i Player. What speech, my lord? 

Hamlet. I heard thee speak me a speech once, but it 
was never acted ; or, if it was, not above once ; for the play, 
I remember, pleas'd not the million ; 't was caviare to the 

413. valanc'd Q4Q5 I valanct Q2 422. my Ff Globe | my good Q2 

Qs I valiant Ff. Camb Delius. 

415. to heaven Q2 I heauen Ff. 425. caviare Johnson | cauiary Q2 
419. French Ff | friendly Q2. I Cauiarie Fi | Cautary F2F3F4. 

413. valanc'd : fringed. The player has lately grown a beard. 

414-415. By 'r lady : by our Lady, by the Virgin Mary. Up to the 
time of the Restoration women's parts were taken by boys with un- 
broken voices. Hamlet is addressing an actor whom he had seen 
playing a heroine's role. 

416. chopine : an Italian shoe with enormously high heels. 
417-418. The old gold coin was thin and easily cracked. There 

was a 'ring' or circle on it within which the sovereign's head was 
stamped ; if the crack extended beyond this ring, the coin was no 
longer current, and hence the simile applied to any other injured 
object. There is whimsical significance in the use of the expres- 
sion here. 

419-420. Hamlet's expression may imply either contempt or com- 
mendation. As a matter of fact, the French falconers were regarded 
as the most skilful in Europe. 

425-426. caviare to the general: not relished by the multitude. 
This famous expression implies cultivated taste-, the Russian deli- 
cacy made of sturgeon roe is pleasant only to a trained palate. The 



scene ii HAMLET 93 

general : but it was — as I receiv'd it, and others, whose 
judgments in such matters cried in the top of mine — an 
excellent play, well digested in the scenes, set down with 
as much modesty as cunning. I remember, one said there 
were no sallets in the lines to make the matter savoury, nor 
no matter in the phrase that might indict the author of 
affectation ; but call'd it an honest method, as wholesome 
as sweet, and by very much more handsome than fine. One 
speech in it I chiefly lov'd : 't was ^Eneas' tale to Dido, 
and thereabout of it especially where he speaks of Priam's 

427. judgments Q2 I iudgement Ff. 432-433. as wholesome . . . than 

430. were Q2 I was QiFf. fine Q2 I Ff omit. 

432. affectation Ff | affection Q2. 434. speech Q2 I cheefe Speech Fi, 

spelling of the Second Quarto, ' cauiary,' and of the First Folio, 
' cauiarie,' indicates the Elizabethan pronunciation. 

427. cried in the top of : spoke with greater authority than. 

430. sallets : salads, of spicy herbs pungently dressed. " Spicy im- 
proprieties." — Dowden. The reference is to ribald impertinences or 
extravagances in words or expressions. In Cade's opening speech, 
2 Henry VI, IV, x, there is a series of quibbles upon ' sallet ' mean- 
ing ' salad,' and ' sallet ' ' a helmet.' 

432. affectation. The 'affection' of the Quartos has the same 
meaning. Cf. Love's Labour 's Lost,V, 1,4: "witty without affection." 

433. more handsome than fine : really beautiful, not merely showy. 

434. iEneas' tale to Dido. There was published in 1594 a play 
called Dido, Queen of Carthage, stated on the title-page to be the 
work of Marlowe and Nash. It has been held that in what follows 
Shakespeare purposely burlesques this play, but nothing in Hamlet's 
lines approaches in extravagance the passage in Dido describing the 
murder of Priam by Pyrrhus. A reasonable theory is that in Shake- 
speare's 'tale' there is no intentional burlesque but a studied effort 
to reproduce that inflated tragic diction which was so popular when 
Shakespeare began his work as a dramatist, thus distinguishing, as 
Schlegel says, the language of the play within the play from that of 
the play itself. 



94 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

slaughter. If it live in your memory, begin at this line ; let 

me see, let me see — 437 

The rugged Pyrrhus, like th' Hyrcanian beast, — 

it is not so ; it begins with Pyrrhus : 

The rugged Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms, 440 

Black as his purpose, did the night resemble 

When he lay couched in the ominous horse, 

Hath now this dread and black complexion smear'd 

With heraldry more dismal ; head to foot 

Now is he total gules, horridly trick'd 445 

With blood of fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, 

Bak'd and impasted with the parching streets, 

That lend a tyrannous and damned light 

To their vile murders. Roasted in wrath and fire, 

And thus o'ersized with coagulate gore, 45° 

With eyes like carbuncles, the hellish Pyrrhus 

Old grandsire Priam seeks. 

So, proceed you. 

Polonius. 'Fore God, my lord, well spoken, with good 
accent and good discretion. 455 

1 Player. Anon he finds him 

Striking too short at Greeks ; his antique sword, 

Rebellious to his arm, lies where it falls, 

Repugnant to command : unequal match'd, 

Pyrrhus at Priam drives ; in rage strikes wide ; 460 

445. total gules I totall Gules Q2 Murthers Fi | Lords murther Q2 I 

I to take Geulles FiF2ito take Geules lord's murder Steevens Globe Camb. 
F3F4. 453- As in Q2 I Ff omit. 

448. and Ff Globe I and a Q2 Camb. 459- match'd Globe | matcht Q2 ) 

449. vile murders Delius | vilde match Ff Camb. 

438. th' Hyrcanian beast: "the Hyrcan tiger." — Macbeth,llI,'\v,ioi. 
445. gules : red. A heraldic term. — trick'd : adorned. 



scene ii HAMLET 95 

But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword 

Th' unnerved father falls. Then senseless Ilium, 

Seeming to feel this blow, with flaming top 

Stoops to his base, and with a hideous crash 

Takes prisoner Pyrrhus' ear ; for, lo ! his sword, 465 

Which was declining on the milky head 

Of reverend Priam, seem'd i' the air to stick : 

So, as a painted tyrant, Pyrrhus stood ; 

And like a neutral to his will and matter, 

Did nothing. 470 

But, as we often see, against some storm, 

A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still, 

The bold winds speechless and the orb below 

As hush as death, anon the dreadful thunder 

Doth rend the region; so, after Pyrrhus' pause, 475 

Aroused vengeance sets him new a-work, 

And never did the Cyclops' hammers fall 

On Mars's armour, forg'd for proof eterne, 

463. this Q2 I his Ff. Q2F2 I A ro wsed Fi. 

469-470. As in Q2 I one line in Ff. 478. Mars's armour Capell | Marses 

476. Aroused Collier | A rowsed Armor Q2 I Mars his Armours Ff. 

472. rack: driving storm clouds. Cf. Fletcher's "sailing rack that 
gallops upon the wings of angry winds " ( Women Pleased) ; Keats's 
"cloudy rack slow journeying in the west" (Endymion); Longfel- 
low's "driving rack of the rain-cloud" (Courtship of Miles Standish). 
Ben Jonson and Bacon use the word to describe the light upper 
clouds driven of the wind. Cf. The Tempest, IV, i, 156; Antony and 
Cleopatra, IV, xiv, 10. The root notion is ' drift ' as in Icelandic 
rek. Cf. " the racking clouds," 3 Henry VI, II, i, 27. So in the 
earliest unmistakable mention of the word in English literature, "be 
rac dryueg," The Deluge, line 433, Alliterative Poems, about A.D. 
1360, given in Morris and Skeat's Specimens of Early English. 

475. region : sky. " Originally a division of the sky marked out by 
the Roman augurs." — Clar. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, II, ii, 21. 

478. proof eterne : eternal resistance to assault. Cf. ' shot-proof,' etc. 



96 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

With less remorse than Pyrrhus' bleeding sword 

Now falls on Priam. 480 

Out, out, thou strumpet, Fortune ! All you gods, 

In general synod take away her power ; 

Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel, 

And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven 

As low as to the fiends ! 485 

Polonius. This is too long. 

Hamlet. It shall to the barber's with your beard. Prithee, 
say on ; come to Hecuba. 

1 Player. But who, O, who had seen the mobled queen — 

Hamlet. ' The mobled queen ? ' 49° 

Polonius. That 's good ; ' mobled queen ' is good. 

1 Player. Run barefoot up and down, threatening the flames 
With bisson rheum ; a clout upon that head 
Where late the diadem stood ; and for a robe, 
About her lank and all o'er-teemed loins 495 

A blanket, in th' alarm of fear caught up ; 
Who this had seen, with tongue in venom steep'd 
'Gainst Fortune's state would treason have pronounc'd : 
But if the gods themselves did see her then, 
When she saw Pyrrhus make malicious sport 500 

483. fellies F4 I follies Q2Q3 I Fal- 491 mobled . . . good Ff | Q2 omits, 

lies F1F2F3. 492. Two lines in Ff . — flames 

489, 490. mobled Q2 I Mobled Q2 I flame Ff. 

F2F3F4 I inobled Fi. 493- upon Q2 I about Ff. 

489. mobled : muffled. Cf . Shirley's The Gentleman of Venice, II, 

ii, 123-125 : 

The moon does mobble up herself sometime in 't. 
Where she will shew a quarter face, and was 
The first that wore a black bag. 

493. bisson rheum : blinding tears. Cf . Coriolanus, II, i, 70. 



scene ii HAMLET 97 

In mincing with his sword her husband's limbs, 

The instant burst of clamour that she made, 

Unless things mortal move them not at all, 

Would have made milch the burning eyes of heaven 

And passion in the gods. 505 

Polonius. Look, where he has not turn'd his colour and 
has tears in 's eyes. Pray you, no more. 

Hamlet. 'Tis well; I '11 have thee speak out the rest of 
this soon. Good my lord, will you see the players well be- 
stow'd? Do ye hear, let them be well us'd, for they are the 
abstracts and brief chronicles of the time ; after your death 
you were better have a bad epitaph than their ill report 
while you liv'd. 5 X 3 

Polonius. My lord, I will use them according to their 
desert. 

Hamlet. God's bodykins, man, much better ! use every 
man after his desert, and who should scape whipping? Use 
them after your own honour and dignity ; the less they de- 
serve, the more merit is in your bounty. Take them in. 5 X 9 

506. where Q2Ff I whether Malone Q2 Globe Camb. 

Globe Camb I whe're Theobald | 513. liv'd | liued Ff| live Q2 Globe 

whe'er Delius. Camb. 

507. Pray you Ff Globe | prethee 516. bodykins Ff | bodkin Q2. — 
Q2 I Prithee Camb. much Q2 I Ff omit. 

508-509. of this Q2 I Ff omit. 517. should Ff Globe Delias | shall 

511. abstracts Ff Delius | abstract Q2 Camb. 

504. milch : moist with tears. Drayton has ' milch dew.' 

505. passion: compassion. Cf. A Midsummer Night's Dream, V, 
i, 293. ' Passion ' is the object of 'made.' 

511. abstracts . . . time. In the Elizabethan age the drama, often 
dealing with and satirizing contemporary life, had an influence similar 
to that of the newspaper and the novel on the life of the present day. 

516. bodykins : dear body. A diminutive of endearment. Another 
oath taken from the eucharist. Cf. note, line 358. 



98 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Polonius. Come, sirs. 5 20 

Hamlet. Follow him, friends ; we '11 hear a play to- 
morrow. 

[Exit Polonius with all the Players but the First] 
Dost thou hear me, old friend? can you play the Murder 
of Gonzago? 

i Player. Ay, my lord. 525 

Hamlet. We '11 ha 't to-morrow night. You could, for a 
need, study a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines, which 
I would set down and insert in 't, could ye not? 

1 Player. Ay, my lord. 

Hamlet. Very well. Follow that lord; and look you 
mock him not. [Exit 1 Player] My good friends, I '11 
leave you till night ; you are welcome to Elsinore. 53 2 

Rosencrantz. Good my lord ! 

Hamlet. Ay, so, God be wi' ye ! 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern] 

Now I am alone. 
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I ! 535 

Is it not monstrous that this player here, 
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, 
Could force his soul so to his own conceit 
That from her working all his visage wann'd, 
Tears in his eyes, distraction in 's aspect, 54° 

A broken voice, and his whole function suiting 

522. [Exit . . . First] Dyce | Exit 'ye F1F2F3. — [Exeunt . . . Globe | 

Polon. Ff (after line 520). Exeunt Q2Ff (after line 533). — Scene 

528. ye Ff I you Q 2 Globe. VIII Pope. 
531. [Exit 1 Player] Q 2 IFf omit. 538. own Q2 I whole Ff. 

534. be wi' ye | b' wi' ye F4 | buy 539. wann'dlwandQ2|warm'dFf. 

527. Perhaps a reference to the speech of Lucianus, III, ii, 232-237. 
541. function: "the whole energies of soul and body." — Caldecott. 



scene ii HAMLET 99 

With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing ! 

For Hecuba ! 

What 's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, 

That he should weep for her? What would he do, 545 

Had he the motive and the cue for passion 

That I have ? He would drown the stage with tears 

And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, 

Make mad the guilty and appall the free, 

Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed 55° 

The very faculty of eyes and ears. Yet I, 

A dull and muddy-mettl'd rascal, peak, 

Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, 

And can say nothing; no, not for a king, 

Upon whose property and most dear life 555 

A damn'd defeat was made. Am I a coward? 

Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across? 

Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face? 

Tweaks me by th' nose? gives me the lie i' the throat, 

551. faculty Ff Rowe Furness | faculties Globe Delius Camb. 

542. conceit : imagination. Cf . As You Like It, II, vi, 8. 

546. cue. " A qu, a term vsed among Stage-plaiers, a Lat. Qualis, 
i.e. at what manner of word the Actors are to beginne to speake one 
after another hath done his speech." — Minsheu, 1625. 

549. free: free from guile, innocent. So in III, ii, 222. 

552-553. Ci. Measure for Measure, IV, iv, 23. — peak: "move 
about dejectedly, or silently ; mope ; 'make a mean figure ' " (Johnson). 
— Murray. — John-a-dreams. " His name is Iohne, indeed, saies the 
cinnick, but neither Iohn-a-Nods, nor Iohn-a-dreames, yet either as 
you take Itt." — Armin, Nest of Ninnies, 1608. 

555. property : " His crown, his wife, everything, in short, which 
he might be said to be possessed of, except his life." — Furness. 

556. defeat : ruin, destruction. The original sense. Cf . V, ii, 58. 
559-560. This was giving one the lie with the most galling additions 



100 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

As deep as to the lungs? who does me this? 560 

Ha! 

'Swounds, I should take it ; for it cannot be 

But I am pigeon-liver 'd and lack gall 

To make oppression bitter, or ere this 

I should have fatted all the region kites 565 

With this slave's offal. Bloody, bawdy villain ! 

Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain ! 

O, vengeance ! 

Why, what an ass am I ! Sure, this is most brave, 

That I, the son of a dear father murder'd, 570 

Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, 

Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words, 

561. Ha! I Hah, Q2 | Ha? Ff (be- —Sure Ff | Q2 omits. 

ginning line 562). 570. a dear father murder'd John- 

562. 'Swounds Q2 I Why I Ff. son | a deere murthered Q2 1 the Deere 

569. Why, I Why Q2 I Who ? Ff. murthered F1F2. 

and terms of insult, or belabouring him with extreme provocation, 
and then rubbing it in, so that the not resenting it would stamp him 
as the most hopeless of cowards. So in Richard II, I, i, 124-125, 
when Norfolk would drive home his charge upon Bolingbroke with 
the utmost force, he exclaims : "As low as to thy heart, Through 
the false passage of thy throat, thou liest." 

562. 'Swounds : by God's wounds. Another Elizabethan oath. 

563. The popular notion that the gentleness of pigeons was due 
to their secreting no gall, the physical cause of courage (cf. Troilus 
and Cressida, I, iii, 237) and rancour, is found in Drayton and other 
Elizabethan writers. Cf . Sir Thomas Browne's Vtclgar Errors, III, iii. 

565. region kites : kites of the air. Cf. line 475. 

567. kindless : unnatural. See note, I, ii, 65. Hamlet checks him- 
self in this strain of objurgation, and then, in mere shame of what 
he has just done, turns to ranting at himself for having ranted. 

570. With the Folio omission of 'father' compare such an ex- 
pression as "the dear departed." 

571. By all the best and worst passions of my nature. 



scene II HAMLET 10 1 

And fall a-cursing, like a very drab, 
A scullion ! 

.Fie upon 't ! foh! About, my brain ! I have heard 575 

That guilty creatures sitting at a play 
Have by the very cunning of the scene 
Been struck so to the soul that presently 
They have proclaim'd their malefactions ; 
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak 5 8 ° 

With most miraculous organ. I '11 have these players 
Play something like the murder of my father 
Before mine uncle : I '11 observe his looks ; 
I '11 tent him to the quick : if he but blench, 
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen 585 

May be the devil ; and the devil hath power 
T' assume a pleasing shape ; yea, and perhaps 
Out of my weakness and my melancholy, 
As he is very potent with such spirits, 

Abuses me to damn me. I '11 have grounds 590 

More relative than this. The play 's the thing 
Wherein I '11 catch the conscience of the king. \_Mxit\ 

574. scullion Ff I stallyon Q2. 584. he but Ff | a doe Q2. 

575. brain | Braine F1F2 I braines 586. the devil . . . the devil | a 
Q2. — I Ff I Hum, I Q2 Camb. deale ... the deale Q2. 

575. About : to work ! Cf . the expression ' go about ' a thing. 
584. tent: probe (as a wound). — blench: flinch (used of the eyes). 

590. Abuses : deceives. Coleridge quotes the following from Sir 
Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, I, xxxvii : "I believe . . . that those 
apparitions and ghosts of departed persons are not the wandering 
souls of men, but the unquiet walks of Devils, prompting and sug- 
gesting us unto mischief, blood, and villainy ; instilling and stealing 
into our hearts that the blessed Spirits are not at rest in their graves, 
but wander sollicitous of the affairs of the World." 

591. relative: closely related, conclusive. "To the purpose." — Clar. 



ACT III 

Scene I. A room in the castle. 

Enter King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, 
and Guildenstern 

King. And can you, by no drift of circumstance, 
Get from him why he puts on this confusion, 
Grating so harshly all his days of quiet 
With turbulent and dangerous lunacy? 

Rosencrantz. He does confess he feels himself distracted ; 
But from what cause he will by no means speak. 6 

Guildenstern. Nor do we find him forward to be sounded, 
But, with a crafty madness, keeps aloof, 
When we would bring him on to some confession 
Of his true state. 

Queen. Did he receive you well? 10 

Rosencrantz. Most like a gentleman. 

Guildenstern. But with much forcing of his disposition. 

Rosencrantz. Niggard of question, but of our demands 
Most free in his reply. 

ACT III. Scene I Q(i6?6) denstern Capell | Rosincrance, 
Rowe I Ff omit. — A . . . castle Ma- Guildenstern, and Lords Ff. 
lone. — Rosencrantz, and Guil- i. circumstance Ff | conference Q2. 

1. drift of circumstance : course of roundabout inquiry. Cf. 'drift,' 
II, i, 10; 'circumstance,' I, v, 127; Troilus and Cressz'da,III,iii, 113, 114. 

13-14. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, Warburton's 
transposition of ' niggard ' and ' most free ' was adopted. " Sparing 

102 



scene i HAMLET 103 

Queen. Did you assay him 

To any pastime? 15 

Rosencrantz. Madam, it so fell out that certain players 
We o'er-raught on the way ; of these we told him, 
And there did seem in him a kind of joy 
To hear of it. They are about the court, 
And, as I think, they have already order 20 

This night to play before him. 

Polonius. 'T is most true ; 

And he beseech'd me to entreat your majesties 
To hear and see the matter. 

King. With all my heart ; and it doth much content me 
To hear him so inclin'd. 25 

Good gentlemen, give him a further edge, 
And drive his purpose on to these delights. 

Rosencrantz. We shall, my lord. 

\_Exezmt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern] 

King. Sweet Gertrude, leave us too ; 

For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither, 
That he, as 'twere by accident, may here 3° 

Affront Ophelia. 
Her father and myself, lawful espials, 

17. o'er-raught | ore-raught Q2 I 28. [Exeunt Rosencrantz and 

ore-wrought F1F2 I o're-took F3F4. Guildenstern] Ff omit. 

25-27. Pope's arrangement I In Ff 30. here I heere Q2 I there Ff. 

lines end gentlemen, on, delights. 31-32. One line in Ff. 

of speech when questioned, but of demands respecting ourselves he 
was very free in return." — Clar. Probably the courtiers are in- 
tentionally misrepresenting their interview with Hamlet. 

17. o'er-raught: over-reached, overtook. 

29. closely: secretly. Cf. King John, IV, i, 133. 

31. Affront: confront, meet. Cf. The Winter's Tale, V, i, 75. 

32. espials : spies. Cf . 1 Henry VI, I, iv, 8 ; IV, iii, 6. 



104 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE ACT in 

Will so bestow ourselves that, seeing unseen, 

We may of their encounter frankly judge, 

And gather by him, as he is behav'd, 35 

If 't be th' affliction of his love or no 

That thus he suffers for. 

Queen. I shall obey you. 

And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish 
That your good beauties be the happy cause 
Of Hamlet's wildness ; so shall I hope your virtues 4° 

Will bring him to his wonted way again, 
To both your honours. 

Ophelia. Madam, I wish it may. 

[Exit Queen] 

Polonius. Ophelia, walk you here. Gracious, so please you, 
We will bestow ourselves. \_To Ophelia] Read on this book; 
That show of such an exercise may colour 45 

Your loneliness. We are oft to blame in this — 
'T is too much prov'd — that with devotion's visage 
And pious action we do sugar o'er 
The devil himself. 

King. \_Aside\ O, 't is too true ! 
How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience ! 50 
The harlot's cheek, beautied with plastering art, 

42. {Exit Queen] Theobald. 48. sugar Q2 I surge Ff. 

43. please you Q2 | please ye Ff. 49. [Aside] Capell | Ff omit. — 

44. [To Ophelia] Johnson. 'tis too Q2 I 'tis Ff. 

39-40. beauties . . . virtues. In previous editions of Hudson's 
Shakespeare was adopted S. Walker's proposed emendation 'beauty' 
and 'virtue.' This reading is defended by Furness. 

43. Gracious. This is addressed to the king. "Compare 'High and 
mighty,' IV,vii,43, and the Dedication to Venus and Adonis" — Elze. 

45. exercise : act of devotion. Cf. Richard III, III, vii, 64. 



scene I HAMLET 



105 



Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it 
Than is my deed to my most painted word. 
O heavy burden ! 

Polonius. I hear him coming ; let 's withdraw, my lord. 

[Exeunt King and Polonius] 

Enter Hamlet 

Hamlet. To be, or not to be, — that is the question ; 
Whether 't is nobler in the mind to suffer 
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, 
And by opposing end them. To die, — to sleep, — 60 

No more ; and by a sleep to say we end 

55. let 's Ff|Q2 omits. — [Exeunt conj. | th' assay of (a' say of) Theo- 
. . . Capell I Exeunt Ff. bald conj. | assailing Hanmer conj. \ 

56. Scene II Pope. assail of Warburton | assays of Keight- 
59. a sea of | a siege of Theobald ley conj. | the seat of Bailey conj. 

52. to : as compared with. Cf. I, ii, 140. 

56. To be, or not to be. Johnson's interpretation of these lines as 
a reference to a future life, and Malone's suggestion that Hamlet is 
liere meditating whether he should commit suicide, lose sight of the 
obvious expansion of the question in the words which immediately 
follow. "Is my present project of active resistance against wrong to 
be, or not to be ? Hamlet anticipates his own death as a probable 
consequence." — Dowden. A soliloquy has naturally less of formal 
continuity in the expression than a speech in a dialogue, and in this 
famous soliloquy the meaning is to be gathered from a series of 
ejaculations that have the effect of interjections expressing deep 
emotion. 

59. The feeling that this line contains a badly mixed metaphor 
has led to the suggested emendations given in the textual notes. 
Apart from the well-known tradition that the Celts were in the 
habit of having armed combats with the ocean waves, the common 
vise of ' sea ' as equivalent to ' host ' (cf . ' sea of care,' Lucrece, line 
1100; 'sea of joys,' Pericles, V, i, 194) would justify its use here. 



106 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks 

That flesh is heir to, — 't is a consummation 

Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, — to sleep, — 

To sleep ! perchance to dream ! ay, there 's the rub ; 65 

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come 

When we have shuffl'd off this mortal coil, 

Must give us pause : there 's the respect 

That makes calamity of so long life ; 

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, 70 

The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, 

The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay, 

The insolence of office, and the spurns 

That patient merit of the unworthy takes, 

63. to, Globe Camb | to, — Delius 72. pangs Q2Ff Ipang Pope Theo- 

| to; Q2 I too? Fi I to? F2F3 I to. F4. bald Johnson. — dispriz'd Ff | dis- 

71. proud Q5Q6 I proude Q2Q3Q4 prized Furness | despiz'd Q2 1 despised 
I poore F1F2 I poor F3F4 Rowe. Globe Camb | despis'd Delius. 

65. rub: obstacle. A technical term in bowling. Cf. Henry V, 
II, ii, 188; V, ii, 33; Richard II, III, iv, 4 ; King John, III, iv, 122. 

67. mortal coil : " the bustle or turmoil of this mortal life." — 

Murray. The best commentary is in Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey, 

lines 52-53 : 

the fretful stir 

Unprofitable, and the fever of the world. 

The fact that Shakespeare never uses ' coil ' in the modern sense 
is against the interpretation that 'mortal coil' means 'the body 
encircling the soul,' or ' the muddy vesture of decay grossly closing 
it in' {The Merchant of Venice, V, i, 64). 

68-69. respect That makes calamity of so long life : consideration 
that makes calamity so long-lived. , 

70-74. For the general spirit of these lines cf. Sonnets, Lxvi. 

72. dispriz'd : unappreciated, undervalued. Cf. Troilus and Cres- 
sida, IV, v, 74. As Furness indicates, a love that is 'dispriz'd' is 
more frequent and more hopeless in its misery than one that is 
* despis'd ' (see Quarto reading adopted by Globe and Camb) . 



scene i HAMLET 107 

When he himself might his quietus make 75 

With a bare bodkin? who would these fardels bear, 

To grunt and sweat under a weary life, 

But that the dread of something after death, 

The undiscover'd country from whose bourn 

No traveller returns, puzzles the will, 80 

And makes us rather bear those ills we have 

Than fly to others that we know not of ? 

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all ; 

76. who would these Ff Delius Camb Delius | The undiscouered Ff 
I who would Q2 Globe Camb. I That undiscover'd Pope. — bourn 

7g, The undiscover'd Q2 Globe Capell | borne Q2F1. 

75. quietus : quittance. A law term for a debt settlement. 

76. bare: unsheathed. But the meaning may be 'mere,' as in 
Richard II, I, iii, 297. — bodkin : dagger. The original form was 
'boydekin,' 'boidekyn,' in three syllables. Chaucer in describing 
the death of Csesar, The Monkes Tale, line 719, has "And stikede 
him with boydekins anoon." — fardels: burdens. Properly 'bundles,' 
'parcels.' Cf. The Winter' 's Tale, IV, iv, 727, etc. In the Genevan 
New Testament, Acts, xxi, 15, reads: "We trussed up our fardeles 
andjwent up to Ierusalem." Grant White and Corson agree that the 
Quarto omission of ' these ' before ' fardels ' misses the essential 
thought, which is a summing up of miseries, not an addition to them. 

79. bourn: boundary. Cf. The Tempest, II, i, 152 ; King Lear, IV, 
vi, 57. Murray and Skeat recognize this as etymologically distinct 
from ' bourn ' (' burn ') meaning a ' stream,' as in King Lear, III, 
vi, 27 : "Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me." 

80. No traveller returns. Hamlet means that no one comes back 
to the state of mortal life, or, as Coleridge says, "no traveller re- 
turns to this world, as to his home, or abiding-place," thus answer- 
ing Theobald's famous question, " Then how about the Ghost ? " 

83. Against the interpretation that ' conscience ' here means only 
' consciousness ' (of such risks) or ' exercise of conscious thought,' 
common meanings in Middle English, may be cited Richard III, 
I, iv, 130-138: "Conscience ... is a dangerous thing; it makes a 
man a coward." 



108 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE ACT III 

And thus the native hue of resolution 

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, 85 

And enterprises of great pith and moment 

With this regard their currents turn awry, 

And lose the name of action. Soft you now ! 

The fair Ophelia ! Nymph, in thy orisons 

Be all my sins remember'd. 

Ophelia. Good my lord, 90 

How does your honour for this many a day ? 

Hamlet. I humbly thank you ; well, well, well. 

Ophelia. My lord, I have remembrances of yours, 
That I have longed long to re-deliver ; 
I pray you, now receive them. 

Hamlet. No, not I ; 95 

I never gave you aught. 

Ophelia. My honour'd lord, I know right well you did ; 
And with them words of so sweet breath compos'd 
As made the things more rich : their perfume lost, 
Take these again ; for to the noble mind 100 

Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. 
There, my lord. 



86. pith Ff Delius Furness | pitch F1F2F3. 

Q2Q3Q4Q5Q6 Globe Camb. 97. I know Ff Furness | you know 

87. awry Qq | away Ff. Q2 Globe Camb Delius. 

92. you; well, well, well Ff Globe 99. the things Ff | these things 

Camb Delius | you well Q2. Q2. — their perfume lost Qa | then 

95. you, now Theobald Globe perfume left F1F2F3 j than perfume 

Delius I you now Q2F4 I you now, left F4. 

85. thought: melancholy brooding. Cf. Julius Ccesar, II, i, 187. 

86. pith. The Quartos read ' pitch,' i.e. ' height,' as of a falcon's 
soaring; but such Shakespearian expressions as 'pith and marrow' 
(I, iv, 22), 'pith and puissance' (Henry V, Chorus-prologue, III, 21) 
support the reading of the Folios. 



scene I HAMLET 109 

Hamlet. Ha, ha ! are you honest? 

Ophelia. My lord ! 

Hamlet. Are you fair? !°5 

Ophelia. What means your lordship? 

Hamlet. That if you be honest and fair, your honesty 
should admit no discourse to your beauty. 

Ophelia. Could beauty, my lord, have better commerce 
than with honesty? IIQ 

Hamlet. Ay, truly ; for the power of beauty will sooner 
transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force 
of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness : this was 
sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did 
love you once. IX 5 

Ophelia. Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so. 

Hamlet. You should not have believ'd me, for virtue 
cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it; 
I lov'd you not. 

no. with Q2 I your Ff. 

103. honest. A common meaning in Shakespeare is 'chaste.' 
Here the word probably connotes both truthfulness and chastity. 
Similarly, in line 105, 'fair' may be understood as covering both 
beauty and straightforwardness. 

105. Coleridge's comment upon this is illuminating : 

Here it is evident that the penetrating Hamlet perceives, from the strange 
and forced manner of Ophelia, that the sweet girl was not acting a part of 
her own, but was a decoy : and his after-speeches are not so much directed 
to her as to the listeners and spies. Such a discovery in a mood so anxious 
and irritable accounts for a certain harshness in him ; and yet a wild up- 
working of love, sporting with opposites in a wilful, self-tormenting strain of 
irony, is perceptible throughout. 

108. admit no discourse to : permit no one to parley with. 

109. commerce: intercourse. Cf. Twelfth Night, III, iv, 191. 

118. Cannot so graft love in (purify) our old evil, nature but that 
we shall still have a strong flavor of our native badness. 



110 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in 

Ophelia. I was the more deceiv'd. 120 

Hamlet. Get thee to a nunnery ; why wouldst thou be 
a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but 
yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my 
mother had not borne me. I am very proud, revengeful, 
ambitious, with more offences at my beck than I have 
thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, 
or time to act them in. What should such fellows as I do 
crawling between heaven and earth? We are arrant knaves 
all ; believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery. Where 's 
your father? 130 

Ophelia. At home, my lord. 

Hamlet. Let the doors be shut upon him, that he may 
play the fool no where but in 's own house. Farewell. 
Ophelia. O, help him, you sweet heavens ! 134 

Hamlet. If thou dost marry, I '11 give thee this plague 
for thy dowry : be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, 
thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, go ; 
farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool ; for 

128. heaven and earth QiFf Camb 133. no where Q2 | no way Ff . 

| earth and heauen Q2 Globe. 134, 141. [Aside] Furness. 

122. indifferent : tolerably, fairly. Cf. II, ii, 226. 

131. Throughout the latter part of this scene, Hamlet's excitement 
runs to a very high pitch, and he seems to take an insane delight in 
lacerating the gentle creature before him. Yet what keenness and 
volubility of wit ! what energy and swiftness of discourse ! the in- 
tellectual forces in a fiery gallop, while the social feelings seem 
totally benumbed. And when Ophelia meets his question, " Where 's 
your father?" with the reply, "At home, my lord," how quickly he 
darts upon the true meaning of her presence ! The innocent girl, 
who knows not how to word an untruth, becomes embarrassed in 
her part, and from her manner Hamlet instantly gathers what is on 
foot and forthwith shapes his speech so as to sting the eavesdroppers. 



scene I HAMLET 1 1 1 

wise men know well enough what monsters you make of 
them. To a nunnery, go ; and quickly too. Farewell. 140 

Ophelia. O heavenly powers, restore him ! 

Hamlet. I have heard of your paintings too, well enough; 
God has given you one face, and you make yourselves an- 
other: you jig, you amble, and you lisp, and nickname God's 
creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance. Go 
to, I '11 no more on 't ; it hath made me mad. I say, we will 
have no more marriages : those that are married already, 
all but one, shall live ; the rest shall keep as they are. To 
a nunnery, go. \_Exit] 

Ophelia. O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown ! 15° 
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword ; 
Th' expectancy and rose of the fair state, 
The glass of fashion and the mould of form, 
Th' observ'd of all observers, quite, quite down ! 
And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, *55 

142. paintings Q1Q2 1 pratlings Fi 151. soldier's, scholar's Q2Ff ' 
I pratling F2F3F4 I painting Pope. scholler, souldier Qi. 

143. has Ff I hath Q 2 . — face Q2 155. And I Q 2 I Haue I F1F2 I I 
I pace Ff . am F3F4. 

142. your. Used indefinitely. Hamlet in these speeches refers, 
not to Ophelia personally, but to women generally. 

145. "You mistake by zvanton affectation, and pretend to mistake 
by ignorance" — Johnson. "You use ambiguous words, as if you 
did not know their meaning." — Moberly. 

151. Hanmer adopted the arrangement of the First Quarto and 
read " courtier's, scholar's, soldier's," making the words correspond 
respectively to " eye, tongue, sword." 

153. Cf. 2 Henry IV, II, iii, 20-32 : 

he was indeed the glass 
Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves . . . 
He was the mark and glass, copy and book, . 
That fashion'd others. 



112 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

That suck'd the honey of his music vows, 

Now see that noble and most sovereign reason, 

Like sweet bells jangled out of tune and harsh ; 

That unmatched form and feature of blown youth 

Blasted with ecstasy. O, woe is me, 160 

T' have seen what I have seen, see what I see ! 

Re-enter King and Polonius 

King. Love ! his affections do not that way tend ; 
Nor what he spake, though it lack'd form a little, 
Was not like madness. There 's something in his soul 
O'er which his melancholy sits on brood, 165 

And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose 
Will be some danger ; which for to prevent, 
I have in quick determination 
Thus set it down : he shall with speed to England, 
For the demand of our neglected tribute. 170 

Haply the seas and countries different 
With variable objects shall expel 
This something- settled matter in his heart, 
Whereon his brains still beating puts him thus 
From fashion of himself. What think you on 't? 175 

Polonius. It shall do well ; but yet do I believe 
The origin and commencement of his grief 
Sprung from neglected love. How now, Ophelia ! 
You need not tell us what Lord Hamlet said ; 
We heard it all. My lord, do as you please, 180 

158. jangled out Ff | jangled, out 162. Scene III Pope. 

Capell Globe Delius. — tune Ff I 167. for to Q2 I to F1F2. 

time Q2. 

166. disclose : chipping of the shell. Cf. V, i, 276. 



scene II HAMLET 113 

But, if you hold it fit, after the play 

Let his queen mother all alone entreat him 

To show his grief : let her be round with him ; 

And I '11 be plac'd, so please you, in the ear 

Of all their conference. If she find him not, 185 

To England send him, or confine him where 

Your wisdom best shall think. 

King. It shall be so ; 

Madness in great ones must not unwatch'd go. [Exeunt] 

Scene II. A hall i7i the castle 

Enter Hamlet and Players 

Hamlet. Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounc'd 
it to you, trippingly on the tongue ; but if you mouth it, as 
many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke 
my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, 
thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, 
and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, you must ac- 
quire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. 
O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig- 
pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split 

183. grief I griefe Q2 I Greefes Fi. 4. much with Q2 I much Ff. 

3. your Ff | our Q2. — spoke Q2 I 8. hear Q2 I see Ff . 

had spoke Ff. 9. tatters Ff | totters Q2. 

183. round: direct, straightforward. See note, II, ii, 139. 

1. " This dialogue of Hamlet with the players," says Coleridge, 
" is one of the happiest instances of Shakespeare's power of diversi- 
fying the scene while he is carrying on the plot." 

8-9. robustious: boisterous. Cf. Henry V, III, vii, 159. — periwig- 
pated. Cf. Every Woman in Her Humour (1609): "As none wear 
hoods but monks and ladies . . . none periwigs but players." 



114 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capa- 
ble of nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noise. I 
would have such a fellow whipp'd for o'erdoing Termagant ; 
it out-herods Herod ; pray you, avoid it. 13 

1 Player. I warrant your honour. 

Hamlet. Be not too tame neither, but let your own dis- 
cretion be your tutor ; suit the action to the word, the word 
to the action ; with this special observance, that you o'erstep 
not the modesty of nature ; for any thing so overdone is from 
the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, 
was and is, to hold, as 't were, the mirror up to nature ; to 
show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the 
very age and body of the time his form and pressure. Now 
this overdone, or come tardy off, though it make the unskilful 

12. would Q2 I could Ff. 

10. groundlings: the crowd in the 'yard.' The yard, or pit, was 
the cheapest part of the Elizabethan theatre; it had neither seats nor 
flooring, and the audience there stood literally on the ground. Cf. 
Ben Jonson's Induction, Bartholomew Fair: "the understanding 
gentlemen o' the ground here asked my judgment." 

12. Termagant. The name given in old romances to an imaginary 
god of the Saracens. He is usually joined with Mahound, or Ma- 
homet. Cf. the Sultan's words in Guy of Warwick : 

So help me Mahoun of might 

And Termagaunt my god so bright. 

Florio calls him " Termigisto, a great boaster, quarreller, killer, tamer, 
or ruler of the universe ; the child of the earthquake and of the 
thunder, the brother of death." 

13. Herod. In such miracle plays as The Slaughter of the Innocents, 
Herod is introduced as a blustering braggart. In the Coventry play 
of The Nativity, one of his ranting speeches is followed by the stage 
direction, " Here Erode ragis in thys pagond and in the strete also." 

22. his: its. — pressure: impress. Cf. I, v, 100. 

23. come tardy off : feebly performed. Cf . ' hanging fire.' 



scene ii HAMLET 115 

laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve ; the censure 
of the which one must in your allowance o'erweigh a whole 
theatre of others. O, there be players that I have seen play, 
and heard others praise, and that highly, not to speak it pro- 
fanely, that, neither having the accent of Christians nor the 
gait of Christian, pagan, nor man, have so strutted and bel- 
low'd that I have thought some of nature's journeymen had 
made men and not made them well, they imitated humanity 
so abominably. 3 2 

1 Player. I hope we have reform'd that indifferently 
with us, sir. 

Hamlet. O, reform it altogether. And let those that play 
your clowns speak no more than is set down for them ; for 
there be of them that will themselves laugh to set on some 
quantity of barren spectators to laugh too, though in the 
mean time some necessary question of the play be then to 
be consider'd : that 's villainous, and shows a most pitiful 
ambition in the fool that uses it. Go, make you ready. 4 1 

\_Exeunt Players] 

25. o'erweigh lore-weigh Q2|o're- 29. nor man Q2 I or Norman Ff | 

way Fi I ore-sway F2F3F4. nor Turke Qi. 

32. abominably. The old spelling ' abhominably,' and the popular 
derivation from ab homine (see Murray), make clear the humorous 
opposition to ' humanity.' Cf. Love's Labour' s Lost, Y, i, 26. 

41. After " uses it " the First Quarto gives the passage quoted 
below, which Collier suggests may have been levelled at the imper- 
tinent " extemporal wit " of the famous comic actor Will Kempe, 
who in 1599 left the company to which Shakespeare belonged. 
The return of Kempe to the company may account for the omission 
of these lines from the later Quartos and the First Folio : 

And then you have some again, that keeps one suit 
Of jests, as a man is known by one suit of 
Apparell, and gentlemen quotes his jests down 



Il6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Enter Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern 

How now, my lord ! will the king hear this piece of work? 

Polonius. And the queen too, and that presently. 

Hamlet. Bid the players make haste. \_Exit Polonius] 

Will you two help to hasten them ? 45 

Rosencrantz. ) _ XT ... . , 
\ We will, my lord. 
Guildenstern. J 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern] 
Hamlet. What, ho, Horatio ! 

Enter Horatio 

Horatio. Here, sweet lord, at your service. 

Hamlet. Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man 
As e'er my conversation cop'd withal. 5° 

Horatio. O, my dear lord, — 

Hamlet. Nay, do not think I flatter, 

For what advancement may I hope from thee 
That no revenue hast but thy good spirits 

42. Scene IV Warburton. 47- Scene V Pope. 

In their tables, before they come to the play, as thus : 

' Cannot you stay till I eat my porridge ? ' and, ' You owe me 

A quarter's wages'; and, ' My coat wants a cullison' 1 ; 

And, ' Your beer is sour ' ; and blabbering with his lips, 

And thus keeping in his cinque-pace of jests, 

When, God knows, the warm clown cannot make a jest 

Unless by chance, as the blind man catcheth a hare; 

Masters ! tell him of it. 

50. As ever I have had intercourse with. 

53. revenue. Accented on the second syllable. This, the common 
but not universal pronunciation in Shakespeare, is etymologically 
correct and until recently was sanctioned by legal and parliamentary 
usage. See Murray. 

1 a badge. A corruption of ' cognizance.' 



scene ii HAMLET 1 17 

To feed and clothe thee ? Why should the poor be flatter'd ? 

No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, 55 

And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee 

Where thrift may follow fawning. Dost thou hear? 

Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice 

And could of men distinguish, her election 

Hath seal'd thee for herself ; for thou hast been 60 

As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing, 

A man that fortune's buffets and rewards 

Hast ta'en with equal thanks ; and blest are those 

Whose blood and judgment are so well commingl'd, 

That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger 65 

To sound what stop she please. Give me that man 

That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him 

In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart, 

As I do thee. Something too much of this. 

There is a play to-night before the king ; 7° 

One scene of it comes near the circumstance 

Which I have told thee of my father's death. 

I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot, 

Even with the very comment of thy soul 

Observe my uncle. If his occulted guilt 75 

55. tongue lick Q4 I tongue licke 58. her Q2 I my Ff. 

Q2 I tongue, like Ff. 63. Hast Q2 I Hath Ff. 

57. fawning | fauning Q2 I faining 74. thy Q2 I my Ff. 

F1F2F3 I feigning F4. 75- my Q2 I mine Ff. 

55. candied : sugared, steeped in the sweetness of adulation. 

56. pregnant: ready, prompt. "Because untold thrift is born from 
a cunning use of the knee." — Furness. 

57. thrift : profit, gain, the gold that flatterers lie for. 

64. blood: natural impulse. Cf. The Merchant of Venice,!, ii, 19-20. 
74. " With the most inward and sagacious criticism." — Dowden. 



Il8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Do not itself unkennel in one speech, 

It is a damned ghost that we have seen, 

And my imaginations are as foul 

As Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful note ; 

For I mine eyes will rivet to his face, 80 

And after we will both our judgments join 

In censure of his seeming. 

Horatio. Well, my lord ; 

If he steal aught the whilst this play is playing, 
And scape detecting, I will pay the theft. 

Danish march. A flourish. Enter King, Queen, Polonius, 
Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and other Lords 
attendant, with the Guard carrying torches 

Hamlet. They are coming to the play ; I must be idle. 
Get you a place. 86 

King. How fares our cousin Hamlet? 

Hamlet. Excellent, i' faith ; of the chameleon's dish. I 
eat the air, promise-cramm'd ; you cannot feed capons so. 

79. stithy Q2 1 Stythe Fi. 85. Scene VI Pope | Scene V War- 

82. In Q2 I To Ff. burton. 

76. one speech. Either (1) Hamlet's "speech of some dozen or 
sixteen lines," II, ii, 527 ; or (2) a single exclamation by the king. 

79. stithy: blacksmith's shop. 'Stithy' properly means 'anvil.' 

85. idle. While this may mean only ' purposeless,' ' intent upon 
nothing in particular,' it should probably be interpreted as ' crazy.' 
In Hall's Chronicles occurs " ydle and weak in his wit." This inter- 
pretation would prove that Hamlet was acting a part. 

88-89. The chameleon was supposed to live on air. Cf. The Two 
Gentlemen of Verona, II, i, 178-179. In Vulgar Errors, iii, 21, Sir 
Thomas Browne deals seriously and at considerable length with this 
popular belief. The king snuffs offence in Hamlet's words as imply- 
ing that he has not kept his promise to him. Cf. I, ii, 64, 108-112. 



scene ii HAMLET 119 

King. I have nothing with this answer, Hamlet; these 
words are not mine. 9 1 

Hamlet. No, nor mine now. \To Polonius] My lord, 
you play'd once i' th' university, you say? 

Polonius. That did I, my lord, and was accounted a 
good actor. 95 

Hamlet. And what did you enact? 

Polonius. I did enact Julius Caesar; I was kill'd i' th' 
Capitol; Brutus kill'd me. 

Hamlet. It was a brute part of him to kill so capital a 
calf there. Be the players ready? 100 

Rosencrantz. Ay, my lord ; they stay upon your patience. 

Queen. Come hither, my dear Hamlet, sit by me. 

Hamlet. No, good mother, here 's metal more attractive. 

[Lying down at Ophelia's /<?<?/] 

Polonius. \To the King] O, ho ! do you mark that? 

Ophelia. You are merry, my lord. ^5 

Hamlet. Who, I? 

Ophelia. Ay, my lord. 

Hamlet. O God, your only jig-maker. What should a 
man do but be merry? for, look you, how cheerfully my 
mother looks, and my father died within 's two hours. no 

Ophelia. Nay, 't is twice two months, my lord. 

94. did I Q2 I I did Ff. 99. brute | bruite F1F2. 

96. And what Ff | What Q2. 102. dear Q2 I good Ff. 

93. A Latin play on Caesar's death was acted at Oxford, in 1582, 
for which Dr. Eedes, of Christ Church, wrote the prologue. 

97-98. Here and in Julius Ccesar, III, i, 12, etc., Shakespeare 
followed the popular tradition, supported by Chaucer in The Monkes 
Tale, which transferred the assassination from the Curia Po?npeiana 
to the Capitol. Cf. also Antony and Cleopatra, II, vi, 12-19. 

no. within 's : within this. Cf . Romeo and Juliet, V, ii, 24. 



120 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in 

Hamlet. So long? Nay then, let the devil wear black, 
for I '11 have a suit of sables. O heavens ! die two months 
ago, and not forgotten yet? Then there 's hope a great man's 
memory may outlive his life half a year ; but, by 'r lady, he 
must build churches then, or else shall he suffer not think- 
ing on, with the hobby-horse, whose epitaph is, i For, O, for, 
O, the hobby-horse is forgot.' 118 

Hautboys play. The dumb-show enters 

JEnter a King and Queen very lovingly ; the Queen em- 
bracing him. She kneels and makes show of protestation 
unto him. He takes her up, and declines his head upon 
her neck ; lays him down upon a bank of flowers. She, 
seeing him asleep, leaves him. Anon comes in a fellow, 
takes off his crown, kisses it, and pours poison in the 
King's ears, and exit. The Queen returns, finds the 
King dead, and makes passionate action. The poisoner, 

113. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, ' sabell ' (Fr. 
xouleur d'isabelle), in the sense of 'flame-colour,' was the reading 
adopted here. ' Sables ' were rich furs, not mourning. " Hamlet's 
jest lies in the ambiguity of the word ; sables, the fur, and sable, the 
Ijlack of heraldry." — Dowden. In IV, vii, 79, sables are described as 
the livery of " settl'd age." 

118. " The hobby-horse is forgot " is a proverbial expression to 
signify the passing of the good old times. Cf. Love's Labour's Lost, 
III, i, 30. The ' hobby-horse ' was a prominent figure in the morris- 
dances and May-games (see Murray), and Puritan opposition to these 
merrymakings is often satirized in old songs and dramas. 

The dumb-show enters. In Gorboduc and many early court plays 
'dumb-show' was introduced to symbolize the action that was to 
follow. Shakespeare's use of it here to represent the action briefly 
but directly is unusual. As the king is in no way surprised by this 
dumb-show, it may be supposed that his attention is so engaged 
-with those about him that he does not mark it. 



Scene ii HAMLET 121 

with some two or three Mutes, comes in again, seeming 
to lament with her. The dead body is carried away. 
The poiso7ier wooes the Queen with gifts ; she seems loth 
and unwilling awhile, but in the end accepts his love 

\_Exeunt\ 
Ophelia. What means this, my lord? 
Hamlet. Marry, this is miching mallecho; it means mis- 
chief. "I 
Ophelia. Belike this show imports the argument of the play. 

Enter Prologue 

Hamlet. We shall know by this fellow. The players can- 
not keep counsel ; they '11 tell all. 

Ophelia. Will he tell us what this show meant? 125 

Hamlet. Ay, or any show that you '11 show him ; be not 
you asham'd to show, he '11 not shame to tell you what it means. 

Ophelia. You are naught, you are naught. I '11 mark the 
play. 

Prologue. For us, and for our tragedy, 130 

Here stooping to your clemency, 
We beg your hearing patiently. \Exit~\ 

Hamlet. Is this a prologue, or the posy of a ring? 

Ophelia. 'T is brief, my lord. 

Hamlet. As woman's love. I 3S 

119. Scene VII Pope | Scene VI munching Mallico Q2 I Miching Mal- 
Warburton. icho Ff. — it Q2 I that Ff. 

120. miching mallecho Malone | 125. he Pope | a Q2 I they Ff. 

120. miching mallecho : sneaking mischief. See Murray. 
128. naught: bad. This, the adjective, often found in Shakespeare, 
•was originally the substantive, used predicatively. 

133. posy: motto. Of course, as such it implied brevity. 



122 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Enter two Players, King and Queen 

Player King. Full thirty times hath Phoebus' cart gone round 
Neptune's salt wash and Tellus' orbed ground, 
And thirty dozen moons with borrowed sheen 
About the world have times twelve thirties been, 
Since love our hearts and Hymen did our hands 140 
Unite commutual in most sacred bands. 

Player Queen. So many journeys may the sun and moon 
Make us again count o'er ere love be done ! 
But, woe is me ! you are so sick of late, 
So far from cheer and from your former state, 145 

That I distrust you. Yet, though I distrust, 
Discomfort you, my lord, it nothing must ; 
For women's fear and love holds quantity, 
In neither aught, or in extremity. 

Now, what my love is, proof hath made you know ; 150 
And as my love is siz'd, my fear is so : 
Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear ; 
Where little fears grow great, great love grows there. 

Player King. Faith, I must leave thee, love, and shortly too; 
My operant powers their functions leave to do : 155 

And thou shalt live in this fair world behind, 

145. your Ff | our Q2. 152, 153. As in Q2 I Ff omit. 
150. love Ff I Lord Q2. 155. their Q2 I my Ff. 

136. cart : chariot. " The style of the interlude here is distinguished 
from the real dialogue by rhyme, as in the first interview with the 
players by epic verse." — Coleridge. 

146. distrust : have fears for, am anxious about. 

148. holds quantity: are in proportion. This is the reading of the 
Folios. The Quartos have : 

For women fear too much, even as they love, 
And women's fear and love hold quantity. 

155. operant : active, operative. — leave : cease. 



scene ii HAMLET 1 23 

Honour'd, belov'd ; and haply one as kind 
For husband shalt thou — 
Player Queen. O, confound the rest ! 

Such love must needs be treason in my breast ; 
In second husband let me be accurst ! 160 

None wed the second but who kill'd the first. 

Hamlet. \_Aside~\ Wormwood, wormwood. 

Player Queen. The instances that second marriage move 
Are base respects of thrift, but none of love. 
A second time I kill my husband dead 165 

When second husband kisses me in bed. 

Player King. I do believe you think what now you speak, 
But what we do determine oft we break. 
Purpose is but the slave to memory, 
Of violent birth, but poor validity ; 170 

Which now, like fruit unripe, sticks on the tree, 
But fall unshaken when they mellow be. 
Most necessary 't is that we forget 
To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt ; 
W T hat to ourselves in passion we propose, 175 

The passion ending, doth the purpose lose. 
The violence of either grief or joy 
Their own enactures with themselves destroy : 
Where joy most revels, grief doth most lament ; 

167. you think Q2|you. Think Ff. 177. either | eyther Q2 I other Ff. 

171. like Ff I the Q2. — fruit | 178. enactures Q6 I ennactures Q2 

fruits Pope. | enactors Ff. 

163. instances: motives, inducements. Cf. Henry V, II, ii, 119. 

164. respects of thrift : considerations of interest. Cf. Ill, i, 68. 
171-172. For grammatical construction, see Abbott, § 415. 
173-174. " Our resolves are debts to ourselves ; why embarrass 

ourselves by inconvenient payments." — Dowden, 

178. enactures: enactments. 'Resolutions.' — Johnson. 



124 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in 

Grief joys, joy grieves, on slender accident. 180 

This world is not for aye, nor 't is not strange 
That even our loves should with our fortunes change ; 
For 't is a question left us yet to prove, 
Whether love lead fortune, or else fortune love. 
The great man down, you mark his favourite flies ; 185 
The poor advanc'd makes friends of enemies : 
And hitherto doth love on fortune tend ; 
For who not needs shall never lack a friend, 
And who in want a hollow friend doth try, 
Directly seasons him his enemy. 190 

But, orderly to end where I begun, 
Our wills and fates do so contrary run 
That our devices still are overthrown ; 
Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own. 
So think thou wilt no second husband wed ; 195 

But die thy thoughts when thy first lord is dead. 
Player Queen. Nor earth to me give food, nor heaven light! 
Sport and repose lock from me day and night ! 
To desperation turn my trust and hope ! 
An anchor's cheer in prison be my scope ! 200 

Each opposite that blanks the face of joy 
Meet what I would have well, and it destroy ! 
Both here and hence pursue me lasting strife, 
If, once a widow, ever I be wife ! 

Hamlet. If she should break it now ! 205 

185. favourite Q2 I fauourites Fi. scope Q2 I Ff omit. — An anchor's 
197. to me give Q 2 1 to giue me Ff . Theobald | And Anchors Q2. — cheer 

199, 200. To desperation ... my | chair Steevens conj. 

194. We can control our thoughts but not their results. 

200. anchor's cheer : anchorite's (hermit's) fare. Dowden favors 
interpreting ' cheer ' as ' chair.' 

20i. opposite that blanks : contrary thing that blanches. 



Scene II HAMLET 125 

Player King. 'T is deeply sworn. Sweet, leave me here 
awhile. 
My spirits grow dull, and fain I would beguile 
The tedious day with sleep. \Sleeps~\ 

Player Queen. Sleep rock thy brain ; 

And never come mischance between us twain ! \_Exit\ 

Hamlet. Madam, how like you this play? 210 

Queen. The lady doth protest too much, methinks. 

Hamlet. O, but she '11 keep her word. 

King. Have you heard the argument? Is there no offence 
in't? 

Hamlet. No, no, they do but jest, poison in jest; no of- 
fence i' th' world. 216 

King. What do you call the play? 

Hamlet. The Mouse- trap. Marry, how? Tropically. This 
play is the image of a murder done in Vienna. Gonzago is 
the duke's name ; his wife, Baptista. You shall see anon ; 
'tis a knavish piece of work, but what o' that? your majesty 
and we that have free souls, it touches us not. Let the gall'd 
jade wince, our withers are unwrung. 223 

six. doth protest Q2 I protests Ff . 223. wince Qi | winch Q2F1. 

218. Tropically: figuratively. The First Quarto has ' trapically,' 
which suggests that a pun is intended. 

219-220. The First Quarto has ' Albertus ' for ' Gonzago,' and 
'Duke' and 'Duchess' everywhere for 'king' and 'queen.' It is a 
matter of history that in 1538 the Duke of Urbano, married to a 
Gonzaga, was murdered by Luigi Gonzaga, who poured a poisoned 
lotion in his ears. 

222-223. Let the gall'd jade wince. A proverbial expression found 
in Heywood's Proverbs, Edwardes's Damon and Pithias, Lyly's 
Mother Bombie, Eupkues, etc. — our withers are unwrung : there is 
no sore on our shoulders. 



126 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Enter Lucianus 
This is one Lucianus, nephew to the king. 

Ophelia. You are as good as a chorus, my lord. 225 

Hamlet. I could interpret between you and your love, if 
I could see the puppets dallying. 

Ophelia. You are keen, my lord, you are keen. 

Hamlet. Begin, murderer; pox! leave thy damnable 
faces, and begin. Come : * The croaking raven doth bellow 
for revenge.' 231 

Lucianus. Thoughts black, hands apt, drugs fit, and time 
agreeing ; 
Confederate season, else no creature seeing. 
Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected, 
With Hecate's ban thrice blasted, thrice infected, 235 
Thy natural magic and dire property 
On wholesome life usurp immediately. 

[Pours the poison into the sleeper's ears'] 

Hamlet. He poisons him i' th' garden for 's estate. His 
name 's Gonzago ; the story is extant, and writ in choice 

225. as good as a Q2 I a good Ff. 

225. One function of the chorus in the Elizabethan drama, as in 
Henry V, was to explain the action of the play, or of the dumb show. 
An interpreter usually explained the movements at a puppet show. 

230-231. Undoubtedly a line from an old play. In The True 
Tragedie of Richard the Third occurs: 

The screeking raven sits croking for revenge, 
Whole herds of beasts come bellowing for revenge. 

233. No creature but time looking on, and time a confederate in 
the act, or conspiring with the murderer. 

235. < Hecate ' is properly trisyllabic, but Shakespeare always 
has it dissyllabic, except in 1 Henry VI, III, ii, 64. The 'ban' of 
Hecate was supposed to bring poison to its highest intensity. 



scene ii HAMLET 1 27 

Italian. You shall see anon how the murderer gets the love 
of Gonzago's wife. 241 

Ophelia. The king rises ! 

Hamlet. What, frighted with false fire ! 

Queen. How fares my lord ? 

Polonius. Give o'er the play. 245 

King. Give me some light ! Away ! 

All. Lights, lights, lights ! 

\Exeunt all but Hamlet and Horatio] 

Hamlet. Why, let the strucken deer go weep, 
The hart ungalled play ; 
For some must watch while some must sleep : 250 
So runs the world away. 

Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers — if the rest of 
my fortunes turn Turk with me — with two Provincial roses on 
my raz'd shoes, get me a fellowship in a cry of players, sir? 

243. Q2 omits. I strooken Q2 I stricken Qi Globe 

248. Scene VIII Pope | Scene VII Camb. 
Warburton. — strucken Ff Delius 251. So Ff | Thus Q2. 

248-251. " In all probability a quotation from some ballad." — 
Dyce. The popular belief that the deer, when badly wounded, retires 
from the herd and goes apart to weep and die, finds expression also 
in As You Like It, II, i, 33-40. Cf. Cowper, The Task, III, 108-m. 

252. forest of feathers. There are many contemporary allusions to 
the gaudy apparel of Elizabethan players and particularly to their 
habit of wearing flaunting plumes. So in Chapman's Monsieur 
d' Olive : " I carry a whole forest of feathers with me." 

253. turn Turk : go wholly to the bad. — Provincial roses. The 
reference is to rosettes of ribbon, like the roses of Provins, near 
Paris, or the famous double damask roses of Provence. 

254. raz'd: slashed, streaked in patterns. — fellowship in a cry: 
partnership in a company. This sense of 'cry' is borrowed from the 
chase. "A kennell or crie of hounds." — Gotgrave. 



128 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in 

Horatio. Half a share. 2 55 

Hamlet. A whole one, I. 

For thou dost know, O Damon dear, 

This realm dismantl'd was 
Of Jove himself ; and now reigns here 

A very, very — pajock. 260 

Horatio. You might have rhym'd. 

Hamlet. O good Horatio, I '11 take the ghost's word for 
a thousand pound. Didst perceive? 

Horatio. Very well, my lord. 

Hamlet. Upon the talk of the poisoning? 265 

Horatio. I did very well note him. 

Hamlet. Ah, ha ! Come, some music ! Come, the re- 
corders 1 

261. pajock F3F4 I paiock Q2 I Paiocke Fi. 

255. Elizabethan players were paid not by salaries, but by shares, 
or portions, of the profits. 

257-259. Hamlet calls Horatio Damon in allusion to the famous 
friendship of Damon and Pythias. His meaning is that Denmark 
was robbed of a king who had the majesty of Jove. Cf. Ill, iv, 56. 

260. pajock. While this is probably a dialect form of « peacock,' 
humorously substituted for ' ass,' it is noteworthy, as Murray points 
out, that the spelling ' peacock ' or * peacocke ' is found in the First 
Folio in the five other places where the word occurs. Skeat says 
that 'pajock ' is the word 'patchock' (a diminutive form of 'patch,' 
meaning ' clown ') used by Spenser in A View of the Present State of 
Ireland. Cf. Ill, iv, 100. 'Peacock' gives the most satisfactory 
meaning in view of the evil reputation of the bird, its showy ap- 
pearance, the fable of the birds choosing it as king instead of the 
eagle, and that of the crow dressed in peacock feathers. 

267-268. The * recorder ' was a kind of flageolet. Cf . Paradise 

Lost, I, 549-55 1 : 

Anon they move 

In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood 

Of flutes and soft recorders. 



scene ii HAMLET 1 29 

For if the king like not the comedy, 

Why, then, belike, he likes it not, perdy. 270 

Come, some music ! 

Re-enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern 

Guildenstern. Good my lord, vouchsafe me a word 
with you. 

Hamlet. Sir, a whole history. 

Guildenstern. The king, sir, — 275 

Hamlet. Ay, sir, what of him? 

Guildenstern. Is in his retirement marvellous distem- 
per'd. 

Hamlet. With drink, sir? 

Guildenstern. No, my lord, rather with choler. 280 

Hamlet. Your wisdom should show itself more richer 
to signify this to his doctor ; for, for me to put him to his 
purgation would perhaps plunge him into far more choler. 

Guildenstern. Good my lord, put your discourse into 
some frame, and start not so wildly from my affair. 285 

Hamlet. I am tame, sir ; pronounce. 

Guildenstern. The queen, your mother, in most great 
affliction of spirit, hath sent me to you. 

Hamlet. You are welcome. 

Guildenstern. Nay, good my lord, this courtesy is not of 
the right breed. If it shall please you to make me a whole- 
some answer, I will do your mother's commandment ; if not, 
your pardon and my return shall be the end of my business. 

272. Re-enter . . . | Enter . . . Ff, after line 266. 

270. perdy. A corruption of par Dieu. Cf. Henry V, II, i, 52. 
283. ' Purgation ' was used in a legal and an ecclesiastical as well 
as in a medical sense. Cf. As You Like It, V, iv, 45. 



130 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Hamlet. Sir, I cannot. 

Guildenstern. What, my lord? 295 

Hamlet. Make you a wholesome answer ; my wit 's dis- 
eas'd : but, sir, such answer as I can make, you shall com- 
mand ; or, rather, as you say, my mother : therefore no more, 
but to the matter. My mother, you say, — 

Rosencrantz. Then thus she says : your behaviour hath 
struck her into amazement and admiration. 301 

Hamlet. O wonderful son, that can so astonish a mother ! 
But is there no sequel at the heels of this mother's admira- 
tion ? Impart. 

Rosencrantz. She desires to speak with you in her closet 
ere you go to bed. 306 

Hamlet. We shall obey, were she ten times our mother. 
Have you any further trade with us? 

Rosencrantz. My lord, you once did love me. 

Hamlet. So I do still, by these pickers and stealers. 3 10 

Rosencrantz. Good my lord, what is your cause of dis- 
temper ? you do surely bar the door upon your own liberty, 
if you deny your griefs to your friend. 

Hamlet. Sir, I lack advancement. 

Rosencrantz. How can that be, when you have the voice 
of the king himself for your succession in Denmark? 316 

301. struck F4 1 strooke Q2 | stroke 310. So I Ff | And Q2. 

F1F2F3 I strook Capell. 312. surely bar the door upon Q2 

304. Impart Q2 I Ff omit. | freely bar the door of Ff. 

301. admiration: wonder, amazement. Cf. I, ii, 192. 

310. So I do still. Here ' so ' is emphatic and strongly ironical. — 
pickers and stealers : hands. " To keep my hands from picking 
and stealing." — Church Catechism. A mild oath 'by this hand' is 
found in The Merchant of Venice, V, i, 161, and in As You Like It, 
IV, i, in. 



scene II HAMLET 131 

Hamlet. Ay, sir, but, * While the grass grows,' — the 
proverb is something musty. 

Re-enter Players with recorders 

O, the recorders ! let me see one. — To withdraw with you : 
— why do you go about to recover the wind of me, as if you 
would drive me into a toil? 321 

Guildenstern. O, my lord, if my duty be too bold, my 
love is too unmannerly. 

Hamlet. I do not well understand that. Will you play 
upon this pipe? 325 

Guildenstern. My lord, I cannot. 

Hamlet. I pray you. 

Guildenstern. Believe me, I cannot. 

Hamlet. I do beseech you. 

Guildenstern. I know no touch of it, my lord. 33° 

Hamlet. 'Tis as easy as lying. Govern these ventages 

317. sir Q2 I Ff omit. corder Ff . — one Q2 I Ff omit. 

319. Re-enter . . . | Enter one with 331. 'Tis Ff |It is Q2. — ventages 

a Recorder Ff . — recorders Q2 I Re- Q2 | Ventiges Ff . 

317. The proverb is in The Paradise of Dainty Devices: 

To whom of old this proverb well it serves, 
While grass doth grow, the silly horse he sterves. 

319. To withdraw with you : let me speak a word with you in 
private. Hamlet addresses Guildenstern. This is a natural inter- 
pretation of a much-disputed passage. 

320. recover the wind : get to the windward side. A hunting term. 

321. toil: net, snare, trap. 

322-323. If I am using an unmannerly boldness with you, it is my 
love that makes me do so. This seems to be the meaning, but so 
incoherent is the apology that Hamlet is justified in saying, "I do 
not well understand that." 

331. ventages : holes of the pipe. So • stops,' line 334, probably 
refers to the mode of stopping the ventages to make the notes. 



132 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in 

with your fingers and thumb, give it breath with your mouth, 
and it will discourse most eloquent music. Look you, these 
are the stops. 

Guildenstern. But these cannot I command to any 
utterance of harmony ; I have not the skill. 336 

Hamlet. Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you 
make of me ! You would play upon me ; you would seem to 
know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mys- 
tery ; you would sound me from my lowest note to the top 
of my compass : and there is much music, excellent voice, 
in this little organ ; yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood, 
do you think I am easier to be play'd on than a pipe? Call 
me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you 
cannot play upon me. 345 

Re-enter Polonius 
God bless you, sir ! 

Polonius. My lord, the queen would speak with you, and 
presently. 

Hamlet. Do you see yonder cloud that 's almost in shape 
of a camel ? 35° 

Polonius. By th' mass, and 't is like a camel, indeed. 

Hamlet. Methinks it is like a weasel. 

332. fingers Q2 I finger Ff. — and 344. can fret me QiFf | fret me 
thumb F4 I and thumbe F1F2F8 I & not Q2. — you Q2Ff Delius | yet you 
the umber Q2Q3. Ql Globe Camb. 

333. eloquent Q2 I excellent Ff. 349. yonder Q2 I that Ff. 

342. speak Q2 I Ff omit. — 'Sblood 351. By th' mass | By'th masse 

I s' bloud Q2 1 Why Ff . Q2 I By 'th' Misse F1F2. — 't is like 

343- I Q2 I that I Ff. I 't is, like Q2 I it 's like Ff. 

344. fret. The word is used punningly. In musical instruments, 
like the guitar, the 'fret* is a bar or ridge of wood, metal, etc. 
(formerly, according to Stainer, a ring of gut), " placed on the finger- 
board, to regulate the fingering." — Murray. 



scene II HAMLET 133 

Polonius. It is back'd like a weasel. 

Hamlet. Or like a whale ? 

Polonius. Very like a whale. 355 

Hamlet. Then will I come to my mother by and by. 

\_Aside~] They fool me to the top of my bent. — ■ I will come 

by and by. 

Polonius. I will say so. \_Exit Polonius] 

Hamlet. ' By and by ' is easily said. Leave me, friends. 

\_Exeunt all but Hamlet] 

' T is now the very witching time of night, 361 

When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out 

Contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood, 

And do such bitter business as the day 

Would quake to look on. Soft ! now to my mother. 365 

heart, lose not thy nature ; let not ever 
The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom ; 
Let me be cruel, not unnatural. 

1 will speak daggers to her, but use none; 

357. [Aside] Staunton | Q2Ff omit. 364. bitter . . . day Ff | busines 

360. [Exeunt . . . | Q^Fi omit. as the bitter day Q2. 
362. breathes F3F4 I breaths F1F2 366. lose Q6 I loose Q2Ff . 

| breakes Q2Q3Q4. 369- daggers Ff | dagger Q2. 

356. by and by. Here the meaning is probably 'immediately,' as 
in Luke, xxi, 9. Many words (' presently,' ' directly,' etc.), meaning 
originally ' without delay,' came to mean ' after a while.' 

357. top of my bent : full extent of my inclination. See note, II, 
ii, 30. Polonius has been using the method, common in the treatment 
of insane people, of assenting to all that Hamlet says. This is what 
Hamlet refers to. 

367. Nero murdered his mother, Agrippina. As Claudius is the 
name of the king, it is interesting to note that after the death of 
her husband, Domitius, Agrippina married her uncle, the Emperor 
Claudius. 



134 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites ; 370 

How in my words soever she be shent, 

To give them seals never, my soul, consent ! [Exit] 



Scene III. A room in the castle 

Enter King, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern 

King. I like him not, nor stands it safe with us 
To let his madness range. Therefore prepare you. 
I your commission will forthwith dispatch, 
And he to England shall along with you. 
The terms of our estate may not endure 5 

Hazard so dangerous as doth hourly grow 
Out of his lunacies. 

Guildenstern. We will ourselves provide ; 
Most holy and religious fear it is 
To keep those many many bodies safe 
That live and feed upon your majesty. 10 

Rosencrantz. The single and peculiar life is bound 
With all the strength and armour of the mind 
To keep itself from noyance, but much more 
That spirit upon whose weal depends and rests 
The lives of many. The cease of majesty 15 

371. soever Q 6 | someuer Q2F1. 6. dangerous Ff| near us Q (1676) 

Scene III | Scene IX Pope | Scene Globe Camb | near 's Q2. 

VIII Warburton. — A room in the 7. lunacies Ff | browes Q2. 

castle I Gj2Ff omit. 14. weal | weale Q2 I spirit Ff. 

371. shent: rebuked. Cf. The Merry Wives of Windsor, I, iv, 38. 

372. give them seals : confirm with deeds. Cf . Coriolanus, II, iii, 1 1 5.. 
13. noyance: injury. An aphetic form of ' annoyance.' 

15. The cease of majesty : the king dying. 



scene in HAMLET 135 

Dies not alone, but like a gulf doth draw 

What 's near it with it. It is a massy wheel, 

Fix'd on the summit of the highest mount, 

To whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser things 

Are mortis'd and adjoin'd ; which when it falls, 20 

Each small annexment, petty consequence, 

Attends the boisterous ruin. Never alone 

Did the king sigh, but with a general groan. 

King. Arm you, I pray you, to this speedy voyage ; 
For we will fetters put upon this fear, 25 

Which now goes too free-footed. 

ROSENCRANTZ. 



We will haste us. 

GUILDENSTERN. 

\_Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern] 

Enter Polonius 

Polonius. My lord, he 's going to his mother's closet. 
Behind the arras I '11 convey myself, 
To hear the process ; I '11 warrant she '11 tax him home : 
And, as you said, and wisely was it said, 3° 

' T is meet that some more audience than a mother, 
Since nature makes them partial, should o'erhear 
The speech, of vantage. Fare you well, my liege ; 

33. speech, of Theobald | speech of Q2Ff. 

16. gulf: whirlpool. Cf. Richard III, III, vii, 128. 

29. tax him home: reprove him severely. 

33. of vantage : from a place of vantage. In previous editions of 
Hudson's Shakespeare the comma was omitted before 'of,' and 
' speech of vantage ' was interpreted as ' speech having an advantage 
in that natural affection makes the speakers partial to each other.' 
This interpretation favors the conclusion that the queen was not 



136 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

I '11 call upon you ere you go to bed, 
And tell you what I know. 

King. Thanks, dear my lord. \_Exit Polonius] 35 

O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven ; 
It hath the primal eldest curse upon 't, 
A brother's murder ! Pray can I not ; 
Though inclination be as sharp as will, 
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent, 4° 

And, like a man to double business bound, 
I stand in pause where I shall first begin, 
And both neglect. What if this cursed hand 
Were thicker than itself with brother's blood, 
Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens 45 

To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves mercy 
But to confront the visage of offence? 
And what 's in prayer but this twofold force, 
To be forestalled ere we come to fall, 

Or pardon'd being down? Then I '11 look up; 5° 

My fault is past. But, O, what form of prayer 
Can serve my turn? ' Forgive me my foul murder? ' 

privy to the murder of Hamlet's father. Both the king and Polonius 
seem to have some distrust of her. 

36. In this speech ' offence ' is used in four different senses. 

37. The curse of Cain. Cf. Genesis, iv, 11. 

39-40. ' Though I were not only willing but strongly inclined to 
pray, my guilt would prevent me.' The distinction here implied is 
philosophically just. The inclination is the craving or the impulse 
to assuage his pangs of remorse ; the will is the determination of 
the reason or judgment in a question of duty and right. 

43-46. Cf. Macbeth, II, ii, 60-61; V, i, 31, 47-48. 

49-50. Either to be prevented from falling, or to be pardoned 
after we have fallen. An allusion to the last petition of the Lord's 
Prayer. 



scene in HAMLET 1 37 

That cannot be ; since I am still possess'd 

Of those effects for which I did the murder, 

My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. 55 

May one be pardon'd and retain th' offence ? 

In the corrupted currents of this world 

Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice ; 

And oft 't is seen the wicked prize itself 

Buys out the law ; but 't is not so above ; 60 

There is no shuffling, there the action lies 

In his true nature, and we ourselves compell'd, 

Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, 

To give in evidence. What then? what rests? 

Try what repentance can. What can it not? 65 

Yet what can it when one can not repent? 

O wretched state ! O bosom black as death ! 

O limed soul, that struggling to be free 

Art more engag'd ! Help, angels ! Make assay ! 

Bow, stubborn knees, and, heart with strings of steel, 7° 

Be soft as sinews of the new-born babe ! 

All may be well. \_Retires and kneels\ 

Enter Hamlet 
Hamlet. Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; 
And now I '11 do 't. And so he goes *o heaven ; 

58. shove by Ff | showe by Q2. 73. Scene X Pope | Scene IX War- 

72. [Retires . . . Malone | hee burton, 
kneeles Qi | Q2Ff omit. 74. so he Ff | so a Q2. 

57. currents : courses. Some read ' currents ' for ' occurrents.' 
61. lies. " Shakespeare uses the word in its legal sense." — Clar. 
64. what rests : what remains to be done. 

68. limed : caught, as with bird-lime. Cf. Macbeth, IV, ii, 34. 

69. engag'd: entangled. — assay: trial. But here, as in Henry V y 
I, ii, 151, it may mean 'onset,' 'attack.' 



138 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in 

And so am I reveng'd. That would be scann'd. 75 

A villain kills my father ; and for that, 

I, his sole son, do this same villain send 

To heaven. 

O, this is hire and salary, not revenge. 

He took my father grossly, full of bread, 80 

With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May ; 

And how his audit stands who knows save heaven? 

But in our circumstance and course of thought, 

'T is heavy with him ; and am I then reveng'd, 

To take him in the purging of his soul, 85 

When he is fit and season 'd for his passage? 

No! 

Up, sword ; and know thou a more horrid hent ; 

When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, 

Or in th' incestuous pleasure of his bed ; 9° 

At gaming, swearing, or about some act 

That has no relish of salvation in 't, — 

Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven, 

77. sole Q2 1 foule F1F2F3 1 foul F4. 91. gaming, swearing Ff Globe 

79. I Oh Ff I Why Q2. Delius | game a swearing Q2 I game, 
81. flush Q2 I fresh Ff. a-swearing Camb. 

75. would be scann'd : ought to be examined. 

80. grossly : in an unshriven condition. The word refers to ' father.' 
— full of bread. Cf . Ezekiel, xvi, 49. 

81. crimes: sins. — flush: "full of sap and vigor." — Clar. 

83. The particular data or circumstantial detail of things from 
which our thought shapes its course and draws its conclusions.' 

88. ' Hent ' properly means ' seizure,' ' grasp,' ' hold ' ; here it is 
used in the figurative sense (' that which is grasped in the mind ') of 
'purpose.' 

93-95. Hamlet here flies off to a sort of ideal revenge, in order to 
quiet his filial feelings without violating his reason. Yet it is a very 



scene iv HAMLET 1 39 

And that his soul may be as damn'd and black 

As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays. 95 

This physic but prolongs thy sickly days. [Exit] 
King. [Rising] My words fly up, my thoughts remain 
below ; 

Words without thoughts never to heaven go. [Exit] 



Scene IV. The Queen's closet 

Enter Queen and Polonius 

Polonius. He will come straight. Look you lay home to him \ 
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with, 
And that your grace hath screen'd and stood between 
Much heat and him. I'll silence me e'en here. 
Pray you, be round with him. 5 

97. [Rising] Q2Ff omit. 4. silence me e'en Ff Delius | si- 

ScENElVCapell | Scene II Rowe | lence me even Q2 I sconce me even 
Scene XI Pope | Scene X Warburton. Hanmer Globe Camb. 

markworthy fact that the king is taken at last in the perpetration 
of crimes far worse than any that Hamlet here anticipates. But 
that, to be sure, is Shakespeare's ordering of the matter, and perhaps 
should be regarded as expressing his sense of justice in this case, 
though Hamlet may well be supposed to have a presentiment that a 
man so bad, and so secure in his badness, will not rest where he is, 
but will proceed to some further exploiting in crime, in the midst of 
which judgment will at last overtake him. 

96. • This physic ' refers to the reasons Hamlet has been giving 
for not striking now ; a medicine that prolongs the king's sickness, 
but does not heal it ; that is, the purpose is delayed, not abandoned. 

1. straight : immediately. — lay home. Cf. Ill, iii, 29. 

4. silence me e'en here : stop talking at this point. The First 
Quarto reads " shrowde my selfe behinde the arras." 

5. round: direct. See note, II, ii, 139. 



140 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in 

Hamlet. [ Within] Mother, mother, mother ! 
Queen. I '11 warrant you ; 

Fear me not. Withdraw, I hear him coming. 

[Polonius hides behind the arras] 

Enter Hamlet 

Hamlet. Now, mother, what 's the matter ? 

Queen. Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. 

Hamlet. Mother, you have my father much offended. 

Queen. Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue. 

Hamlet. Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. 

Queen. Why, how now, Hamlet ! 

Hamlet. What's the matter now? 

Queen. Have you forgot me? 

Hamlet. No, by the rood, not so : 

You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife ; *5 

And — would it were not so ! — you are my mother. 

Queen. Nay, then I '11 set those to you that can speak. 

Hamlet. Come, come, and sit you down ; you shall not 
budge : 
You go not till I set you up a glass 
Where you may see the inmost part of you. 20 

Queen. What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me? 
Help, help, ho ! 

Polonius. [Behind] What, ho ! help, help, help ! 

Hamlet. [Drawing] Hownowlarat? Dead for a ducat, 
dead ! [Makes a pass through the arras] 

7. [Polonius . . . | QiYi omit. But would you were not Ff. 

12. a wicked Q2 I an idle Ff. 22, 24. [Behind] QiFi omit. 

16. And — would it were not | 23. [Makes . . . | £>2Ff omit. 

14. rood : cross of Christ. Cf. 2 Henry IV, III, ii, 3. 



scene iv HAMLET 141 

Polonius. [Behind] O, I am slain ! \Falls and dies'] 

Queen. O me ! what hast thou done ? 

Hamlet. Nay, I know not ; 25 

Is it the king? 

Queen. O, what a rash and bloody deed is this ! 

Hamlet. A bloody deed ! almost as bad, good mother, 
As kill a king, and marry with his brother. 

Queen. As kill a king ! 

Hamlet. Ay, lady, 't was my word. 3° 

[Lifts up the arras and discovers Polonius] 
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell ! 
I took thee for thy better ; take thy fortune ; 
Thou find' st to be too busy is some danger. 
Leave wringing of your hands. Peace ! sit you down, 
And let me wring your heart : for so I shall 35 

If it be made of penetrable stuff ; 
If damned custom have not braz'd it so 
That it is proof and bulwark against sense. 

Queen. What have I done, that thou dar'st wag thy tongue 
In noise so rude against me? 

Hamlet. Such an act 40 

That blurs the grace and blush of modesty, 
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose 
From the fair forehead of an innocent love, 
And sets a blister there, makes marriage-vows 

24. [Falls.. . I Killes Polonius Ff. 37. braz'd Ff | brasd Q2 | brass'd 

30. [Lifts ... I Q2F1 omit. Globe Camb. 

32. better Q2 I Betters Ff. 38. is Ff | be Q2 Globe Camb. 

44. sets Cj2 I makes Ff. 

37. braz'd : made brazen, hardened like brass. 

38. proof : armor of proof. Cf. Macbeth, I, ii, 54. 

44. sets a blister there : " brands as a harlot." — Clar. 



142 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ill 

As false as dicers' oaths ; O, such a deed 45 

As from the body of contraction plucks 

The very soul, and sweet religion makes 

A rhapsody of words ! heaven's face doth glow, 

Yea, this solidity and compound mass, 

With tristful visage, as against the doom, 50 

Is thought-sick at the act. 

Queen. Ay me, what act, 

That roars so loud and thunders in the index? 

Hamlet. Look here, upon this picture, and on this, 
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. 
See, what a grace was seated on this brow ; 55 

Hyperion's curls ; the front of Jove himself, 

48-49. glow, Yea Ff | glowe Ore Q2. 52. Q2 gives to Hamlet. 

50. tristful Ff I heated Q2. 55. this Q2 I his Ff. 

46. contraction: the marriage contract. Dowden quotes from 
Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi : "After his 'contraction' . . . 
unto the daughter of Mr. Wilson." 

49-51. solidity: solid globe, the earth. Hamlet in his high-wrought 
stress of passion, kindling as he goes on, makes the fine climax, that 
not only the heavenly powers burn with indignation, but even the 
gross beings of this world are smitten with grief and horror, as if 
the day of judgment were at hand. 

52. index : beginning. The ' index ' was usually placed at the be- 
ginning of books. Cf. Othello, II, i, 263 : " an index and obscure 
prologue." Similarly in Richard III, II, ii, 149; IV, iv, 85. 

53. Actors have interpreted this line in various ways. Stage tra- 
dition, followed by Edwin Booth, favors two miniatures, but a min- 
iature could not represent Hamlet's father at full length, as he is 
described here, and in some stage business tapestry portraits have 
been introduced. Salvini and Irving represented the pictures as 
seen only in the " mind's eye." See Furness. 

54. counterfeit presentment. Cf. The Merchant 0/ Venice, III, ii, 116. 
56. Hyperion's. See note, I, ii, 140. — front: forehead. 



scene iv HAMLET 143 

An eye like Mars, to threaten and command ; 

A station like the herald Mercury 

New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill ; 

A combination and a form indeed, 60 

Where every god did seem to set his seal, 

To give the world assurance of a man. 

This was your husband. Look you now what follows : 

Here is your husband ; like a mildew'd ear, 

Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes? 65 

Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed, 

And batten on this moor ? Ha ! have you eyes ? 

You cannot call it love, for at your age 

The hey-day in the blood is tame, it 's humble, 

And waits upon the judgment ; and what judgment 7° 

Would step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have, 

Else could you not have motion ; but sure, that sense 

Is apoplex'd ; for madness would not err, 

Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thralPd, 

57. and Q2 I or Ff. 71-76. Sense, sure, you . . . such 
65. brother Q2 I breath Ff. a difference Q2 I Ff omit. 

58. station : attitude in standing. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III, 
iii, 22 ; Macbeth, V, viii, 42. 

64-65. The allusion is to the blasted ears of corn that destroyed 
the full and good ears in Pharaoh's dream, Genesis, xli, 5-7. 
67. batten: feed ravenously, fatten. Cf. Coriolanus, IV, v, 35. 

71. Sense : feeling, sensation. In the following line ' sense ' has 
reference to the mind, rather than to the body, and might be inter- 
preted as ' reason.' Cf. ' common sense.' 

72. motion: impulse, desire. The meaning seems to be, Your reason 
must be not merely unseated, as in madness, but absolutely quenched. 

74-75. ecstasy: insanity. Cf. II, i, 101. Sense was never so domi- 
nated by the delusions of insanity but that it still retained some 
power of choice. 



144 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

But it reserv'd some quantity of choice, 75 

To serve in such a difference. What devil was J t 

That thus hath cozen 'd you at hoodman-blind ? 

Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight, 

Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all, 

Or but a sickly part of one true sense 80 

Could not so mope. 

O shame ! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell, 

If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones, 

To flaming youth let virtue be as wax, 

And melt in her own fire ; proclaim no shame 85 

When the compulsive ardour gives the charge, 

Since frost itself as actively doth burn, 

And reason panders will. 

Queen. O Hamlet, speak no more ! 

Thou turn' st mine eyes into my very soul, 
And there I see such black and grained spots 9° 

As will not leave their tinct. 



78-81. Eyes. . . mope Q2 I Ff omit. 89. eyes into my very Ff | very 

88. And Q2 I As Ff . — panders Ff eyes into my Q2. 
I pandars Globe Camb | pardons Q2. 90. grained Ff | greened Q2. 

77. hoodman-blind. " The Hoodwinke play, or hoodmanblinde, in 
some places called the blindmanbuf." — Baret's Alvearie. 

81. mope : be dull and stupid. Cf. The Tempest, V, i, 239. 

83. mutine: mutiny. The verb does not occur again in Shake- 
speare, but the noun 'murines,' in the sense of 'mutineers,' 'rebels,' 
occurs in V, ii, 6. 

84-85. There is, in the moral sense, a fire that cleanses and pre- 
serves, and there is also a fire that corrupts and destroys ; and the 
text probably involves a verbal identification of the two. 

88. panders will : basely ministers to appetite. 

90. grained : ingrained, dyed in the grain, indelibly stained. 

91. leave their tinct : part with their dye. 



scene iv HAMLET 145 

Hamlet. Nay, but to live 

Stew'd in corruption, — 

Queen. O, speak to me no more ! 

These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears. 
No more, sweet Hamlet ! 

Hamlet. A murderer and a villain ; 

A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe 95 

Of your precedent lord ; a vice of kings ; 
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule, 
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole, 
And put it in his pocket ! 

Queen. No more ! 

Hamlet. A king of shreds and patches — 100 

Enter Ghost 

Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings, 

You heavenly guards ! What would your gracious figure ? 

Queen. Alas, he 's mad ! 

Hamlet. Do you not come your tardy son to chide, 
That, laps'd in time and passion, lets go by 105 

93. mine Ff | my Q2. iox. Enter . . . | in Ff after line 99. 

95. tithe I tythe Ff | kyth Q2. 102. your Q2 | you Ff. 

96. a vice of kings : a fool of a king, a king to be laughed at. 
4 Vice ' refers to the well-known stock character of the old moral 
plays, who, often as the devil's parasite and foil, supplied much of 
the comic element. He usually wore a motley or patchwork dress ; 
hence the reference to 'shreds and patches' in line 100. Cf. Twelfth 
Night, IV, ii, 134; 2 Henry IV, III, ii, 343; Henry V, IV, iv, 75. 

101. Enter Ghost. The stage direction in the First Quarto is 
Enter the Ghost in his night gowne, where 'night-gown,' as in Mac- 
beth, II, ii, 70, means ' dressing-robe.' 

105. laps'd in time and passion : " having suffered. time to slip and 
passion to cool." — Johnson. 



146 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Th' important acting of your dread command ? 
O, say ! 

Ghost. Do not forget. This visitation 
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose. 
But, look, amazement on thy mother sits; "o 

O, step between her and her fighting soul ! 
Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works. 
Speak to her, Hamlet. 

Hamlet. How is it with you, lady ? 

Queen. Alas, how is 't with you, 
That you do bend your eye on vacancy, "5 

And with th' incorporal air do hold discourse? 
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep ; 
And, as the sleeping soldiers in th' alarm, 
Your bedded hair, like life in excrements, 
Start up and stand an end. O gentle son, 120 

Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper 
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look? 

Hamlet. On him, on him ! Look you, how pale he glares ! 
His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones, 
Would make them capable. Do not look upon me; ^S 

115. you do Q2lyou Filthus you 119. hair Delius Furness | haire 
F2F3F4 Rowe Capell. Q2F1 | hairs Rowe Globe Camb. 

116. th' incorporal Q2 I their cor- 120. an end Q2Ff Globe Camb I 
porall Fi I the corporal F2F3. on end Q (1676) Pope Delius. 

106. important: urgent. Cf. All's Well that Ends Well,III,vii,2i. 
112. Conceit: imagination. Cf. The Winter's Tale, III, ii, 145. 

119. bedded. This is evidently suggested by 'sleeping soldiers.' — 
excrements : outgrowths. Used specially of hair, nails, feathers. 

120. Start . . . stand. " ' Hair,' partly perhaps owing to the in- 
fluence of 'soldiers,' is treated as a plural." — E. K. Chambers. — 
an end. See note, I, v, 19. Cf. Abbott, § 24. 

125. make them capable : put sense and understanding into them. 



scene iv HAMLET 147 

Lest with this piteous action you convert 

My stern effects. Then what I have to do 

Will want true colour ; tears, perchance, for blood. 

Queen. To whom do you speak this ? 

Hamlet. Do you see nothing there? 

Queen. Nothing at all ; yet all that is I see. 13° 

Hamlet. Nor did you nothing hear? 

Queen. No, nothing but ourselves. 

Hamlet. Why, look you there ! look, how it steals away ! 
My father, in his habit as he liv'd ! 
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal ! 

[Exit Ghost] 

Queen. This is the very coinage of your brain ■ 135 

This bodiless creation ecstasy 
Is very cunning in. 

Hamlet. Ecstasy ! 

My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time, 
And makes as healthful music. It is not madness 
That I have uttered ; bring me to the test, 140 

And I the matter will re-word, which madness 

129. whom Q2 I who Fi. in | one line in QqFf. 

136-137. This bodiless . . . cunning 140. uttered | vttred Q2 I vttered Ff . 

127. effects : action. In previous editions of Hudson's Shake- 
speare, Singer's reading of 'affects' (i.e. 'affections,' ' passions ') was 
adopted. Hamlet is afraid lest the 'piteous action' of the Ghost 
should move him to pity instead of revenge, so that he will see in a 
false light what he has to do, and shed tears instead of blood. 

133. habit: dress. See note on First Quarto stage direction, 
line 101. — as : as if. Cf. Othello, III, iii, 77. 

135. Cf. Macbeth, II, i, 38-39 : "A false creation, Proceeding from 
the heat-oppressed brain." 

136. ecstasy: madness. Cf. II, i, 101, etc. 

141. re-word: repeat word for word. Cf. A Lover's Complaint, 1. 



148 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace, 

Lay not that nattering unction to your soul, 

That not your trespass but my madness speaks ; 

It will but skin and film the ulcerous place, 145 

Whilst rank corruption, mining all within, 

Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven ; 

Repent what 's past, avoid what is to come ; 

And do not spread the compost on the weeds, 

To make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue ; 15° 

For in the fatness of these pursy times 

Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, 

Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good. 

Queen. O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. 

Hamlet. O, throw away the worser part of it, 155 

And live the purer with the other half. 
Good night : but go not to mine uncle's bed ; 
Assume a virtue, if you have it not. 
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat, 
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this, 160 

143. that Q2 I a Ff. 157. mine Ff | my Q2. 

146. Whilst F'i Delius | Whiles Q2 159-163- That ... put on Q2 I Ff 

Globe Camb. omit. — eat, Of habits devil Q (1676) 

149. on Q2 I or Ff I o'er Furness. Globe Camb | eate Of habits deuill 

150. ranker Q5 1 rancker Q2 I ranke Q2 I eat Of habit's devil Rowe | eat, 
F1F2 I rank F3F4. Oft habits' devil Delius. 

156. live Ff I leaue Q2. 

151. pursy: short-winded (as the result of 'fatness'). Delius points 
out that the connection of ideas between 'fatness' and being 'pursy' 
is repeated in V, ii, 277. 

153. curb : bend, kneel. The First Folio spelling ' courb ' shows 
the derivation from the Fr. courber. 

150-161. The general meaning is, Though custom is a monster 
that eats out all sensibility or consciousness of sin, the evil genius 
of bad habits, yet on the other hand it is an angel in this respect, 



scene iv HAMLET 



149 



That to the use of actions fair and good 
He likewise gives a frock or livery, 
That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night, 
And that shall lend a kind of easiness 

To the next abstinence ; the next more easy ; 165 

For use almost can change the stamp of nature, 
And either master the devil or throw him out 
With wondrous potency. Once more, good night ; 
And when you are desirous to be blest, 
I '11 blessing beg of you. For this same lord, 170 

\_Pointing to Polonius] 
I do repent ; but heaven hath pleas'd it so, 
To punish me with this and this with me, 
That I must be their scourge and minister. 
I will bestow him, and will answer well 
The death I gave him. So, again, good night. 175 

I must be cruel, only to be kind ; 
Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind. 
One word more, good lady. 

Queen. What shall I do? 

165-168. the next . . . potency Q2 Q2 I And either ... the Globe Camb. 
I Ff omit. — And either master the 170. {Pointing to Polonius] 

Steevens I And Maister the Q4 I And Rowe | Q2Ff omit, 
master the Delius | And either the 178. One . . . lady Q2 | Ff omit. 

that, etc. Theobald omitted the comma after ' eat ' and changed 
'devil' to 'evil,' and this reading was adopted in previous editions 
of Hudson's Shakespeare. 

167. The 'Maister' ('master') of the Fourth Quarto supplies as 
good a substitute as any for the word which has dropped out in the 
text of the earlier Quartos. For suggested substitutes see Furness. 

169-170. Hamlet means that when he finds his mother on hei 
knees before God, he will kneel before her. 

173. their. Shakespeare often uses ' heaven ' as plural. 



150 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in 

Hamlet. Not this, by no means, that I bid you do : 
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed, 180 

Pinch wanton on your cheek, call you his mouse ; 
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses, 
Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers, 
Make you to ravel all this matter out, 

That I essentially am not in madness, 185 

But mad in craft. 'T were good you let him know ; 
For who, that 's but a queen, fair, sober, wise, 
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib, 
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so? 
No, in despite of sense and secrecy, 19° 

Unpeg the basket on the house's top, 
Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape, 
To try conclusions, in the basket creep, 
And break your own neck down. 

Queen. Be thou assur'd, if words be made of breath, 195 
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe 
What thou hast said to me. 

Hamlet. I must to England ; you know that ? 

180. the bloat Warburton | the 186. mad | made Fi. 

blowt Q2 1 the blunt Ff | the fond Pope. 188. gib Q2 I gibbe Ff . 

180. bloat: bloated. See note on 'disjoint,' I, ii, 20. 

181. 'Mouse' was a term of endearment. Cf. Love's Labour 's Lost, 
V, ii, 19 ; Twelfth Night, I, v, 69. " Pleasant names may be invented, 
bird, mouse, lamb, puss, pigeon." — Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy > 

182. reechy: foul. Another form of 'reeky.' Cf. Much Ado about 
Nothing, III, iii, 143 ; Coriolanus, II, i, 225. 

188. paddock : toad ; cf . Macbeth, I, i, 9. — gib : tomcat. 

193. conclusions : experiments. The passage alludes to some story 
that has been lost. Sir John Suckling, in one of his letters, refers 
to " the story of the jackanapes and the partridges." 



scene iv HAMLET 151 

Queen. Alack, 

I had forgot ; 't is so concluded on. 

Hamlet. There 's letters seal'd ; and my two school- 
fellows, 200 
Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd, 
They bear the mandate ; they must sweep my way, 
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work ; 
For 'tis the sport to have the enginer 

Hoist with his own petar ; and 't shall go hard 205 

But I will delve one yard below the mines, 
And blow them at the moon. O, 'tis most sweet 
When in one line two crafts directly meet ! 
This man shall set me packing. * 

I'll lug the guts into the neighbour room. 210 

Mother, good night. Indeed, this counsellor 
Is now most still, most secret, and most grave, 
Who was in life a foolish prating knave. 
Come, sir, to draw toward an end with you. 
Good night, mother. 215 

[Exeunt severally; Hamlet dragging in Polonius] 

200-208. There ' s letters . . . di- 215. [Exeunt severally . . . in 

rectly meet Q2 I Ff omit. Polonius] Steevens | Exit Hamlet 

205. petar Q2 I petard Johnson. tugging in Polonius Ff. 

204. enginer. Cf. 'pioner,' I, v, 163. See Abbott, §443. 

205-206. Hoist. This may be either the past participle of • hoise ' 
(cf. 2 Henry VI, I, i, 169) or a contracted form of 'hoisted,' similar 
to 'bloat' for 'bloated,' line 180. — petar: "a Petard or Petarre ; 
an Engine . . . wherewith strong gates are burst open." — Cotgrave, 
— 't shall go hard But. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, III, i, 75. 

209. packing. Either (1) 'plotting,' or (2) "being off." Perhaps 
used punningly in both senses. 

210. guts. There is abundant evidence that this was formerly a 
less offensive word than it is to-day. 



ACT IV 
Scene I. A room in the castle 

Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern 

King. There's matter in these sighs; these profound 
heaves 
You must translate ; 't is fit we understand them. 
Where is your son? 

Queen. Bestow this place on us a little while. 

\_Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern] 
Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night ! 5 

King. What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet? 

Queen. Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend 
Which is the mightier ; in his lawless fit, 
Behind the arras hearing something stir, ' 
Whips out his rapier, cries 'A rat, a rat ! ' 10 

ACT IV. Scene I Q (1676) Rowe 4. Bestow . . . while Q2 1 Ff omit. 

I Ff omit. — A room . . . castle Globe 5. my good Ff Delius Furness | 

I Ff omit. — Enter King . . . Guil- mine own Q2 Globe Camb. 

denstern Q2 (substantially) 1 Enter 7. sea Q2 I seas Ff. 

King Ff. 10. Whips . . . rapier Q2 I He 

1. matter Q2 I matters Ff. whips . . . out, and Ff. 

Act IV. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare the first 
three scenes of this fourth act were printed as scenes v, vi, and vii 
of the preceding act, on the ground that there is no sufficient interval 
or pause in the action to warrant the beginning of a new act. This 
suggestion was made by Caldecott and supported by Elze. It has 
the approval, too, of Dowden. 

152 



scene i HAMLET 153 

And in this brainish apprehension kills 
The unseen good old man. 

King. O heavy deed ! 

It had been so with us, had we been there ; 
His liberty is full of threats to all, 

To you yourself, to us, to every one. 15 

Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answer'd? 
It will be laid to us, whose providence 
Should have kept short, restrain'd, and out of haunt, 
This mad young man ; but so much was our love, 
We would not understand what was most fit, 20 

But, like the owner of a foul disease, 
To keep it from divulging, let it feed 
Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone? 

Queen. To draw apart the body he hath kill'd ; 
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore 25 

Among a mineral of metals base, 
Shows itself pure. He weeps for what is done. 

King. O Gertrude, come away ! 
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch, 
But we will ship him hence ; and this vile deed 30 

We must, with all our majesty and skill, 
Both countenance and excuse. Ho, Guildenstern ! 

11. this Q2 I his Ff. 22. let Q2 I let's F1F3F4 I lets F2. 

11. brainish. Murray defines this rare word as 'headstrong,' 'pas- 
sionate.' Here it seems to mean 'brainsick,' 'crazy.' 

18. short : on a short tether. — out of haunt : apart. Cf . As You 
Like It, II, i, 15 : "And this our life, exempt from public haunt." 

26. mineral: mine. "Anything that grows in mines and contains 
metals." — Minsheu. "Fired brimstone in a minerall." — Hall's 
Satires. 



154 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE ACT iv 

Re-enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern 

Friends both, go join you with some further aid; 

Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain, 

And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him. 35 

Go seek him out ; speak fair, and bring the body 

Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this. 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern] 
Come, Gertrude, we '11 call up our wisest friends, 
And let them know both what we mean to do, 
And what 's untimely done ; so, haply slander, 40 

Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter, 
As level as the cannon to his blank, 
Transports his poison'd shot, may miss our name, 
And hit the woundless air. O, come away ! 44 

My soul is full of discord and dismay. \_Exeunt\ 

Scene II. Another room in the castle 

Enter Hamlet 
Hamlet. Safely stowed. 

Rosencrantz. 1 mtMn -, Hamlet , Lor d Hamlet ! 
Guildenstern. J L 

35. mother's closet I Mother Clos- omit. — Enter Hamlet Ff | Enter 

sets Fi. — dragg'd | dreg'd Q2. Hamlet, Rosencrans, and others Q2. 

39. And let Q2 I To let Ff. 2. Rosencrantz. Guilden- 
40-44. so ... air I Ff omit. stern. [Within] Gentlemen within 
Scene II. Another . . . | Q2Ff Ff | Q2 omits. 

40. so, haply slander. These words are found in neither Quartos 
nor Folios. They were supplied by Capell to fill an obvious gap. 
Theobald suggested "For, haply, slander"; Malone, with Cymbeline, 
III, iv, 41, in mind, read, " So viperous slander." 

42. level : direct. — blank : the white in the target centre. 



scene ii HAMLET 155 

Hamlet. But soft, what noise? who calls on Hamlet? 
0, here they come. 

Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern 

Rosencrantz. What have you done, my lord, with the 
dead body? 5 

Hamlet. Compounded it with dust, whereto 't is kin. 

Rosencrantz. Tell us where 'tis, that we may take it 
thence 
And bear it to the chapel. 

Hamlet. Do not believe it. 

Rosencrantz. Believe what? 10 

Hamlet. That I can keep your counsel and not mine 
own. Besides, to be demanded of a sponge, what replica- 
tion should be made by the son of a king? 

Rosencrantz. Take you me for a sponge, my lord ? 

Hamlet. Ay, sir, that soaks up the king's countenance, 
his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the king 
best service in the end. He keeps them, like an ape, in 
the corner of his jaw ; first mouth'd, to be last swallow'd : 
when he needs what you have glean'd, it is but squeezing 
you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again. 20 

Rosencrantz. I understand you not, my lord. 

3. But soft Q2 I Ff omit. Ape doth Nuttes Qi | like an ape 

17. like an ape Ff Globe Camb doth nuts Furness. 
Delius I like an apple Q2 I like an 

12-13. to be demanded of : on being questioned by. The infinitive 
is used gerundively. See Abbott, § 356. — replication : reply. 
15. countenance: favor. Cf. 2 Henry IV, IV, ii, 11-13 : 

That man that sits within a monarch's heart, 
And ripens in the sunshine of his favour,' 
Would he abuse the countenance of the king. 



156 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Hamlet. I am glad of it ; a knavish speech sleeps in a 
foolish ear. 

Rosencrantz. My lord, you must tell us where the body 
is, and go with us to the king. 25 

Hamlet. The body is with the king, but the king is not 
with the body. The king is a thing — 

Guildenstern. A thing, my lord ! 

Hamlet. Of nothing ; bring me to him. Hide fox, and 
all after. [Exeunt] 

Scene III. Another room in the castle 

Enter King, attended 

King. I have sent to seek him, and to find the body. 
How dangerous it is that this man goes loose ! 
Yet must not we put the strong law on him : 
He 's lov'd of the distracted multitude, 

29-30. Hide fox, and all after Ff | castle Capell | Ff omit. — Entet 

Q2 omits. King, attended Capell |»Enter King., 

Scene III Pope. — Another . . . and two or three Q2 I Enter KingFf. 

22—23. Love's Labour's Lost, V, ii, 871-873: 

A jest's prosperity lies in the ear 

Of him that hears it, never in the tongue 

Of him that makes it. 

26-27. Hamlet is undoubtedly talking deliberate nonsense to tease, 
and puzzle his questioners. If an interpretation be demanded, this 
may serve : The king's body is with the king, but not the king's 
soul ; he is a king without kingliness. 

29-30. Hide fox, and all after. Probably a phrase from such a 
children's game as 'hide and seek.' "The old fox, Polonius, is 
hidden; come, let us ail follow the sport and hunt him out." — 
Dowden. Cf. IV, iii, 34. 

4. distracted : without judgment. Perhaps ' fickle ' is implied. 



scene in HAMLET 1 57 

Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes ; 5 

And, where 't is so, th' offender's scourge is weigh'd, 

But never the offence. To bear all smooth and even, 

This sudden sending him away must seem 

Deliberate pause ; diseases desperate grown 

By desperate appliance are reliev'd, 10 

Or not at all. 

Enter Rosencrantz 

How now ! what hath befall'n ? 
Rosencrantz. Where the dead body is bestow'd, my lord, 
We cannot get from him. 

King. But where is he? 

Rosencrantz. Without, my lord ; guarded, to know your 

pleasure. 
King. Bring him before us. 15 

Rosencrantz. Ho, Guildenstern ! bring in my lord. 

Enter Hamlet and Guildenstern 

King. Now, Hamlet, where 's Polonius? 
Hamlet. At supper. 

King. At supper ! where? 19 

Hamlet. Not where he eats, but where he is eaten; a 

certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your 

7. never Q2 I neerer F1F2. 21. politic | politique Q2 I Ff omit. 

5-7. Who like, not what their judgment approves, for they have 
none, but what pleases their eyes ; and in this case the criminal's 
punishment is considered, but not his crime. 

9. Deliberate pause : something paused over and deliberated on. 

21. politic worms : such worms as might feed appropriately on the 
body of a politician. 'Convocation,' 'worms,' 'emperor,' 'diet,' 
make an allusion here to the famous Diet of Worms very probable. 



158 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

worm is your only emperor for diet ; we fat all creatures else 
to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king 
and your lean beggar is but variable service, two dishes, but 
to one table ; that 's the end. 25 

King. Alas, alas ! 

Hamlet. A man may fish with the worm that hath eat 
of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. 

King. What dost thou mean by this? 29 

Hamlet. Nothing but to show you how a king may go a 
progress through the guts of a beggar. 

King. Where is Polonius? 

Hamlet. In heaven ; send thither to see : if your mes- 
senger find him not there, seek him i' th' other place your- 
self. But indeed, if you find him not within this month, you 
shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby. 36 

King. Go seek him there. \To some Attendants] 

Hamlet. He will stay till ye come. \_Exeunt Attendants] 

King. Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety, 
Which we do tender, as we dearly grieve 40 

For that which thou hast done, must send thee hence 
With fiery quickness ; therefore prepare thyself. 
The bark is ready, and the wind at help, 
Th' associates tend, and every thing is bent 
For England. 

Hamlet. For England? 

23. ourselves Q2 I our selfe Fi. 38. ye Ff | you Q2. — {Exeunt ... 

24. service, two | seruice to Fi. Capell | Ff omit. 

35. within Q2 I Ff omit. 39. deed Q2 I deed of thine Ff. 

37. [To some . . . Capell | Ff omit. 44. is bent Q2 I at bent Ff. 

31. progress: royal journey of state. Cf. 2 Henry VI, I, iv, 76.. 
40. tender : have regard for. — dearly : heartily. 
44. tend : are waiting for you. See note, I, iii, 83. 



scene in HAMLET 1 59 

King. Ay, Hamlet. 

Hamlet. Good. 45 

King. So is it, if thou knew'st our purposes. 

Hamlet. I see a cherub that sees them. But, come ; for 
England ! Farewell, dear mother. 

King. Thy loving father, Hamlet. 49 

Hamlet. My mother : father and mother is man and 
wife ; man and wife is one flesh ; and so, my mother. Come, 
for England ! [Exit] 

King. Follow him at foot ; tempt him with speed aboard ; 
Delay it not ; I '11 have him hence to-night. 
Away ! for every thing is seal'd and done 55 

That else leans on th' affair ; pray you, make haste. 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern] 
And, England, if my love thou hold'st at aught — 
As my great power thereof may give thee sense, 
Since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red 
After the Danish sword, and thy free awe 60 

Pays homage to us — thou mayst not coldly set 
Our sovereign process ; which imports at full, 
By letters conjuring to that effect, 
The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England ; 
For like the hectic in my blood he rages, 65 

47. them Q2 I him Ff. 61. set Q2Ff | let Pope. 

56. {Exeunt . . . Guildenstern] 63. conjuring Ff Delius Furness | 

Theobald | Q2Ff omit. congruing Q2 Globe Camb. 

61. coldly set : " regard with indifference." — Schmidt. Cf. the 
modern expression ' set ' much or little by a thing. 

63. conjuring: earnestly entreating. Accented here on the first 
syllable. The ' earnest conjuration ' of V, ii, 38, is sufficient defence 
of the Folio reading here. 

65. hectic. "Sickeof an Hectic, or continuall Feauer." — Cotgrave. 



160 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

And thou must cure me. Till I know 't is done, 

Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun. [Exit] 

Scene IV. A plain in Denmark 

Enter Fortinbras, a Captain, and Soldiers, marching 

Fortinbras. Go, captain, from me greet the Danish king , 
Tell him that by his license Fortinbras 
Claims the conveyance of a promis'd march 
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous. 
If that his majesty would aught with us, 5 

We shall express our duty in his eye ; 
And let him know so. 

Captain. I will do 't, my lord. 

Fortinbras. Go softly on. 

[Exeunt Fortinbras and Soldiers] 

Enter Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and others 

Hamlet. Good sir, whose powers are these? 

Captain. They are of Norway, sir. 10 

Hamlet. How purpos'd, sir, I pray you? 

67. were ne'er begun Ff | will an Armie Ff | Enter Fortinbras with 

nere begin Q2. his Army over the stage Q2. 

Scene IV Pope | Scene II Rowe 8. softly Q2 I safely Ff. — \Ex- 

| Ff omit. — A plain in Denmark eunt . . . | Exit Ff | Q2 omits. 
Capell I Ff omit. — Enter . . . march- 9-66. Good sir . . . nothing worth 

ing Globe | Enter Fortinbras with Q2 I Ff omit. 

4. The ' rendezvous ' here meant is the place where Fortinbras is 
to wait for the captain after the delivery of the message to the king. 

6. I will wait upon his presence and pay my respects to him in 
person. The household books of James the First's reign show that 
' in his eye ' was a formal court phrase for ' in the royal presence.' 

8. softly: slowly, leisurely. Cf. Julius Ccesar, V, i, 16. 



scene iv HAMLET 161 

Captain. Against some part of Poland. 

Hamlet. Who commands them, sir? 

Captain. The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras. 

Hamlet. Goes it against the main of Poland, sir, 15 

Or for some frontier? 

Captain. Truly to speak, and with no addition, 
We go to gain a little patch of ground 
That hath in it no profit but the name. 
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it ; 20 

Nor will it yield to Norway or the Pole 
A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee. 

Hamlet. Why, then the Polack never will defend it. 

Captain. Yes, 't is already garrison'd. 24 

Hamlet. Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats 
Will not debate the question of this straw ; 
This is th' imposthume of much wealth and peace, 
That inward breaks, and shows no cause without 
Why the man dies. I humbly thank you, sir. 

Captain. God be wi' you, sir. [Exit] 

Rosencrantz. Will 't please you go, my lord ? 30 

Hamlet. I '11 be with you straight. Go a little before. 

[Exeunt all but Hamlet] 
How all occasions do inform against me, 
And spur my dull revenge ! What is a man, 

17. speak I speak it Pope. 31. [Exeunt . . . | Q2 omits. 

30. be wi' you | buy you Q2. 

20. I would not lease it if I had to pay a rent of five, only five, 
ducats. ' Farm ' here in the sense of ' lease ' or ' rent ' is opposed to 
*in fee,' line 22, meaning 'in absolute possession.' 

27. imposthume: abscess. "A course of evill humours gathered 
to some part of the bodie." — Minsheu. 



162 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

If his chief good and market of his time 

Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more. 35 

Sure, he that made us with such large discourse, 

Looking before and after, gave us not 

That capability and godlike reason 

To fust in us unus'd. Now, whether it be 

Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple 40 

Of thinking too precisely on th' event — 

A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom, 

And ever three parts coward — I do not know 

Why yet I live to say ' This thing 's to do,' 

Sith I have cause and will and strength and means 45 

To do 't. Examples gross as earth exhort me ; 

Witness this army of such mass and charge, 

Led by a delicate and tender prince, 

Whose spirit with divine ambition pufPd 

Makes mouths at the invisible event, 50 

Exposing what is mortal and unsure 

To all that fortune, death, and danger dare, 

Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great 

Is not to stir without great argument, 

But greatly to find quarrel in a straw 55 

When honour 's at the stake. How stand I then, 

That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd, 

36. discourse : power of reasoning. See note, I, ii, 1 50. 

39. fust: grow mouldy. " Fustie, tasting of the cask." — Cotgrave. 

41. event : outcome, issue, consequence. So in line 50. 

45. Sith. An abbreviated form of ' sithence,' whence ' since.' 

50. Makes mouths at : mocks at, holds in contempt. 

54-56. True greatness lies, not in fighting upon every trifling 
occasion, but in finding provocation in the very smallest thing when 
honor is involved. 



scene v HAMLET 163 

Excitements of my reason and my blood, 

And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see 

The imminent death of twenty thousand men, 60 

That for a fantasy and trick of fame 

Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot 

Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, 

Which is not tomb enough and continent 

To hide the slain ? O, from this time forth, 65 

My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth ! [Exit] 



Scene V. Elsinore. A room in the castle 

Enter Queen, Horatio, and a Gentleman 

Queen. I will not speak with her. 

Gentleman. She is importunate, indeed distract; 
Her mood will needs be pitied. 

Queen. What would she have? 

Gentleman. She speaks much of her father ; says she 

hears 4 

There 's tricks i' th' world ; and hems, and beats her heart ; 

Scene V Pope | Scene III Rowe a Gentleman Q2 I Enter Queene and 

I Ff omit. — Elsinore . . . castle Capell Horatio Ff. 

I Ff omit. — £«^...Gentleman 2,4. Gentleman | Gent. Q2 

Pope I Enter Horatio, Gertrard, and Globe Camb | Hor. Ff Delius. 

61. trick: toy, trifle. Cf. The Taming of the Shrew, IV, iii, 67. 

64. continent: that which contains. Cf. A Midsummer Nightfs 
Dream, II, i, 92. " If there be no fullness, then is the continent 
greater than the content." — Bacon, The Advancement of Learning. 

2. Gentleman. The arrangement of speeches in the opening of 
this scene is that made by Collier, and follows the Quartos closely. 
" The omission in the Folios of the Gentleman was, no doubt, to 
avoid the employment of another actor." — Collier. 



164 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Spurns enviously at straws ; speaks things in doubt, 
That carry but half sense : her speech is nothing, 
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move 
The hearers to collection ; they aim at it, 
And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts ; 10 

Which, as her winks and nods and gestures yield them, 
Indeed would make one think there might be thought, 
Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily. 

Horatio. ' T were good she were spoken with ; for she 
may strew 
Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds. 15 

Queen. Let her come in. \Exit Gentleman] 

\Aside\ To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is, 
Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss ; 
So full of artless jealousy is guilt, 
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. 20 

Re-enter Gentleman, with Ophelia 

Ophelia. Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark? 
Queen. How now, Ophelia ! 

9. aim FsF4 I ayme F1F2 I yawne | Q2 continues to Horatio. — [Exit 

Q2 I gape, Elze conj. Gentleman] Hanmer | Exit Hor. 

12. might Q2 I would Ff. Johnson | Q2Ff omit. 

14. Horatio | Hora. Q2 I Qu. 21. Re-enter . . . Globe | Enter 

(Queen) Ff. Ophelia Q2 (after line 16) j Enter 

16. Queen. Let her come in | Col- Ophelia distracted Ff. 
lier's arrangement (Blackstone conj.) 

6. Spurns enviously at straws : kicks spitefully at trifles. 
9. collection: inference. Cf. Cymbeline, V, v, 432. — aim: guess. 
Cf. The Two Gentlemen of Verona, III, i, 45. 

18. toy : trifle. — amiss : calamity. Cf . Sonnets, xxxv, 7. 

19. jealousy: suspicion. Cf. II, i, 112. 

21. Re-enter Gentleman, with Ophelia. The First Quarto stage 
direction is, " Enter Ofelia playing on a Lute, and her haire downe, 



scene v HAMLET ^5 

Ophelia. [Sings'] 

How should I your true-love know 

From another one ? 
By his cockle hat and staff, 25 

And his sandal shoon. 

Queen. Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song ? 
Ophelia. Say you ? nay, pray you, mark. 

[Sings] He is dead and gone, lady, 

He is dead and gone ; 30 

At his head a grass-green turf, 
At his heels a stone. 
O, ho ! 

Queen. Nay, but, Ophelia, — 

Ophelia. Pray you, mark. 

[Sings] White his shroud as the mountain snow, — 

Enter King 
Queen. Alas, look here, my lord. 35 

33. 0, ho Q2 Delius | Oh, oh Camb | Ff Globe omit. 

singing." Furness gives the traditional music of these song snatches. 
Sir Joshua Reynolds says of this scene : 

There is no part of this play in its representation on the stage more 
pathetic than this scene ; which, I suppose, proceeds from the utter insensi- 
bility Ophelia has to her own misfortunes. A great sensibility, or none at 
all, seems to produce the same effects. In the latter case the audience supply 
what is wanting, and with the former they sympathize. 

25. cockle hat : hat with a scallop shell stuck in it. This was a 
sign that the wearer had been beyond the sea on pilgrimage. The 
pilgrim's habit was often assumed as a disguise for lovers. Cf . Romeo 
and Juliet, I, v. 

26. shoon. Cf. 2 Henry VI, IV, ii, 195. This form of the plural is 
still common in Scottish dialect. 



166 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Ophelia. [Sings'] 

Larded with sweet flowers ; 
Which be wept to the grave did not go, 
With true-love showers. 

King. How do you, pretty lady? 39 

Ophelia. Well, God 'ild you! They say the owl was a 
baker's daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but know 
not what we may be. God be at your table ! 

King. Conceit upon her father. 

Ophelia. Pray you, let 's have no words of this ; but, 
when they ask you what it means, say you this : 45 

[Sings'] To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, 
All in the morning betime, 
And I a maid at your window, 
To be your Valentine. 

36. Larded Ff | Larded all Q2. 39. you Q2 I ye Ff. 

37. did not Q2Ff Dowden | did 40. God 'ild Capell | good dild 
Pope Globe Camb Delius Furness. Q2 I God dil'd Ff. 

36. Larded : garnished, decorated. Cf . V, ii, 20. 

40. God 'ild: God yield, God help. Cf. As You Like It, III, iii, 76. 

40-41. The reference is to a legend, quoted by Douce, that Christ 
went into a baker's shop and asked for bread. When the mistress 
put dough into the oven, her daughter reproved her for too great 
generosity and reduced it to a very small size. The dough grew 
miraculously huge, whereupon the daughter cried ' Heugh, heugh, 
heugh ! ' like an owl, and Christ transformed her into an owl. Ac- 
cording to Leland, a gipsy name for the owl is Maromengrd's Chavi, 
or ' Baker's Daughter.' 

46-49. " This song alludes to the custom of the first girl seen by 
a man on the morning of this day being considered his Valentine, 
or true-love." — Halliwell. The plot of Scott's novel, The Fair Maid 
of Perth, turns upon the observance of this custom; hence the sig- 
nificance of the sub-title, St. Valentine 's Day. 



scene v HAMLET 167 

King. How long hath she been thus? 50 

Ophelia. I hope all will be well. We must be patient ; 
but I cannot choose but weep, to think they should lay him 
i' th' cold ground. My brother shall know of it ; and so I 
thank you for your good counsel. Come, my coach ! Good 
night, ladies ; good night, sweet ladies ; good night, good 
night. \Exit\ 

King. Follow her close ; give her good watch, I pray 
you. \_Exit Horatio] 

O, this is the poison of deep grief ; it springs 
All from her father's death. t O Gertrude, Gertrude, 
When sorrows come, they come not single spies, 60 

But in battalions ! First, her father slain ; 
Next your son gone ; and he most violent author 
Of his own just remove : the people muddied, 
Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers, 64 
For good Polonius' death; and we have done but greenly, 
In hugger-mugger to inter him ; poor Ophelia 
Divided from herself and her fair judgment, 
Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts ; 
Last, and as much containing as all these, 
Her brother is in secret come from France, 70 

Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds, 
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear 
With pestilent speeches of his fathers death, 

50. been thus | bin this Fi. 71. Feeds Q2 1 Keepes F1F2 1 Keeps 

61. battalions | battalians Q2 I F3F4. — his wonder Ff | this wonder 
Battaliaes F1F2 I Battels F3F4. Q2 I his anger Hanmer. 

66. hugger-mugger: secret haste. See Murray. In North's Plu- 
tarch, Antony urges that Caesar's body should be "honourably buried 
and not in hugger-mugger." 



1 68 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd, 

Will nothing stick our person to arraign 75 

In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude, this, 

Like to a murdering-piece, in many places 

Gives me superfluous death. \_A noise within] 

Queen. Alack, what noise is this? 

King. Where are my Switzers ? Let them guard the door. 

Enter another Gentleman 

What is the matter? 

Gentleman. Save yourself, my lord ; 80 

The ocean, overpeering of his list, 
Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste 
Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, 
O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord \ 
And, as the world were now but to begin, 85 

Antiquity forgot, custom not known, 
The ratifiers and props of every word, 
They cry, * Choose we ; Laertes shall be king ! ' 
Caps, hands, and tongues applaud it to the clouds, 
* Laertes shall be king, Laertes king ! ' 90 

75. person Q2 I persons Ff . Messenger Q2 (in Ff after death) . 

79. Scene VI Pope. 82. impetuous | impitious Q2 I 

80. Enter . . . Staunton | Enter a impittious Fi. 

77. murdering-piece : cannon charged with case shot. 

79. Switzers : royal guards. Malone here quotes from Nash, 
Christ's Teares over Jerusalem : " Law, logicke, and the Switzers 
may be hired to fight for any body." 

81. overpeering of his list : overflowing its bounds. 
83. head : armed force. Cf. 1 Henry 1 V, I, iii, 284. 

87. This obviously refers to ' custom ' and ' antiquity,' though, 
some interpret the words as applying to ' rabble.' 



scene v HAMLET 1 69 

Queen. How cheerfully on the false trail they cry ! 
O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs ! 

King. The doors are broke. [Noise within] 

Enter Laertes, armed; Danes following 

Laertes. Where is this king? Sirs, stand you all without. 

Danes. No, let 's come in. 

Laertes. I pray you, give me leave. 95 

Danes. We will, we will. [They retire without the door] 

Laertes. I thank you ; keep the door. O thou vile king, 
Give me my father ! 

Queen. Calmly, good Laertes. 

Laertes. That drop of blood that 's calm proclaims me 
bastard, 
Cries cuckold to my father, brands the harlot 100 

Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brows 
Of my true mother. 

King. What 's the cause, Laertes, 

That thy rebellion looks so giant-like? 
Let him go, Gertrude ; do not fear our person. 
There 's such divinity doth hedge a king 103 

That treason can but peep to what it would, 
Acts little of his will. Tell me, Laertes, 
Why thou art thus incens'd. Let him go, Gertrude. 
Speak, man. 

94. Enter Laertes . . . Capell I Capell | Ff omit. 

Enter Laertes Ff (after line^). 99. that 's calm | thats calme Q2 

95. 96. Danes I All Q2FL | that calmes Fi. 

96. [They retire without the door] 101. brows | brow Ff . 

92. counter: "when a hound hunteth backwards, the same way 
that the chase is come." — Holme, Academy of Armory. 
101. unsmirched: unstained. Cf. ' besmirch,' I, iii, 15. 



170 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Laertes. Where 's my father? 

King. Dead. 

Queen. But not by him. 

King. Let him demand his fill. m 

Laertes. How came he dead ? I '11 not be juggled with. 
To hell, allegiance ! vows, to the blackest devil ! 
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit ! 
I dare damnation. To this point I stand, "5 

That both the worlds I give to negligence, 
Let come what comes ; only I '11 be reveng'd 
Most throughly for my father. 

King. Who shall stay you? 

Laertes. My will, not all the world ; 
And, for my means, I '11 husband them so well 120 

They shall go far with little. 

King. Good Laertes, 

If you desire to know the certainty 
Of your dear father's death, is 't writ in your revenge, 
That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe, 
Winner and loser? 125 

Laertes. None but his enemies. 

King. Will you know them, then ? 

Laertes. To his good friends thus wide I '11 ope my arms, 

123. father's death F3F4 I fathers 124. swoopstake I soopstake Q2 I 

death Fi | father Q2. — is 't | if Ff. soop-stake Ff | sweep-stake Johnson. 

124-125. There is a mixture of metaphors here. "Are you going 
to vent your rage on both friend and foe ; like a gambler who insists 
on sweeping the stakes, whether the point is in his favor or not." — 
Moberly. The figure is clearer in the First Quarto. — swoopstake 
indiscriminately. The First Quarto reads : 

Therefore will you like a most desperate gamster, 
Swoop-stake-like, draw at friend, and foe, and all. 



scene v HAMLET 171 

And, like the kind life-rendering pelican, 
Repast them with my blood. 

King. Why, now you speak 

Like a good child and a true gentleman. 130 

That I am guiltless of your father's death, 
And am most sensibly in grief for it, 
It shall as level to your judgment pierce 
As day does to your eye. 

Danes. [ Within'] Let her come in. 

Laertes. How now! what noise is that? 135 

Re-enter Ophelia 

O heat, dry up my brains ! tears seven times salt, 

Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye ! 

By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight, 

Till our scale turns the beam. O rose of May ! 

Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia ! 140 

O heavens ! is 't possible, a young maid's wits 

128. pelican Q2 I Politician Fi. [Within] Let ... in (see note). 
132. sensibly | sencibly Q2 I sensi- 138. by Ff | with Q2. 

ble Ff Rowe Johnson. 139. turns F3F4 I turnes F1F2 I 

134. Scene VII Pope. — Danes. turne Q2. 

128. The belief that the pelican fed its young with its own blood 
belongs to the fictitious natural history which is one of the charac- 
teristics of euphuism. Lyly calls Queen Elizabeth " that good Peli- 
cane that to feede hir people sparethnot to rend his owne personne"; 
and elsewhere in his Euphues and his England, we have, " the Peli- 
cane, who stricketh blood out of his owne body to do others good." 
Cf. Richard II, II, i, 126; King Lear, III, iv, 77. 

134. Danes. [Within] Let her come in. The arrangement is Ca- 
pell's, followed in Globe and Camb. The Second Quarto has the 
stage direction A noyse within opposite ' eye,' and ' Let her come 
in' is given to Laertes. The Folios^have 'A noise within. Let her 
come in,' as if a stage direction, after ' eye.' 



172 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Should be as mortal as an old man's life? 
Nature is fine in love, and where 't is fine 
It sends some precious instance of itself 
After the thing it loves. 145 

Ophelia. [Sings'] 

They bore him barefac'd on the bier ; 

Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny ; 

And on his grave rain'd many a tear. 

Fare you well, my dove ! 

Laertes. Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge, 
It could not move thus. 151 

Ophelia. You must sing, ' Down a-down, and you call 
him a-down-a.' O, how the wheel becomes it ! It is the 
false steward that stole his master's daughter. 

Laertes. This nothing's more than matter. 155 

Ophelia. There 's rosemary, that 's for remembrance ; 

142. an old Ff | a poore Q2 I a sick Camb. — rain'd Q2 I raines Fi. 
Q (1676). 152-153- You . . . a-down-a j as 

148. on Ff Furness | in Q2 Globe song in Globe Camb. 

144. instance: example, evidence. The precious thing which 
Ophelia's fineness of nature has sent after her father is her sanity. 

149. Fare . . . dove. The Folios print as part of the song. 

153. The 'wheel' was interpreted by Steevens as 'refrain,' and 
Guest, in his English Rhythms, uses it in this sense ; but here Ophelia 
probably imagines that she is singing at the spinning wheel. 

154. Nothing is known of this story of the false steward. 

156. The language of flowers is very ancient, and the old poets 
have many instances of it. In The Winter' 's Tale, IV, iv, Perdita 
makes herself delectable in the use of it, distributing her flowers 
much as Ophelia does here. In Greene's Alcida, too, flower fancies 
are introduced much as they are in this scene. Rosemary, being sup- 
posed to strengthen the memory, was held emblematic of remem- 
brance, and in that thought was distributed at weddings and funerals- 



Scene v HAMLET 1 73 

pray you, love, remember ; and there is pansies, that 's for 
thoughts. 

Laertes. A document in madness ; thoughts and remem- 
brance fitted. 160 

Ophelia. There 's fennel for you, and columbines ; there 's 
rue for you, and here 's some for me ; we may call it herb 
of grace o' Sundays. O, you must wear your rue with a dif- 
ference. There 's a daisy. I would give you some violets, 
but they wither'd all when my father died. They say he 
made a good end, — 166 

[Sings'] For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy. 

157. pray you Q2 I pray Ff . — 162-163. herb of grace Camb I herbe 

pansies Johnson | pancies Q2F2F3F4 of Grace Q2 I Herbe-Grace F1F2 I 
I Paconcies Fi. herb-grace Rowe Globe Delius. 

157. pansies. From the Fr. pense'es. Spenser's spelling ' Paunces ' 
( The Faerie Queene, III, i, 16) approximates the French pronunciation. 

159. document : lesson. The etymological sense of the word (Lat. 
doceo). Cf. The Faerie Queene, I, x, 19: 

And heavenly documents thereont did preach, 
That weaker witt of man could never reach. 

161. Fennel and columbine were symbols, respectively, of cajolery 
and ingratitude, and stage tradition makes Ophelia present them to 
the guileful and faithless king. 

162. ' Rue,' symbolizing grief and repentance, was appropriately 
called 'herb of grace' (cf. Richard II, III, iv, 105), and Ophelia 
gives it to the queen. 

163-164. with a difference. Usually interpreted as a heraldic phrase, 
but the probable meaning is simply, 'with a different signification'; 
i.e. 'You wear it for repentance ; I wear it for sorrow.' 

164. daisy. " The dissembling daisie." — Greene, Quip for an 
Upstart Courtier. — violets. Does she recall her brother's words (I, 
hi, 7)? "Violet is for faithfullness." — Handfull of Pleasant Delites. 

167. Poor Ophelia in her madness remembers fragments of many 
«>ongs. Bonny Robin seems to have been a popular poem on Robin 



174 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Laertes. Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself, 
She turns to favour and to prettiness. 
Ophelia. [Sings'] 

And will he not come again ? 1 70 

And will he not come again ? 

No, no, he is dead, 

Go to thy death-bed ; 
He never will come again. 

His beard was as white as snow, 175 

All flaxen was his poll ; 

He is gone, he is gone, 

And we cast away moan : 
God ha' mercy on his soul ! 

And of all Christian souls, I pray God. God be wi' you. 

[Exit] 
Laertes. Do you see this, O God? 181 

King. Laertes, I must commune with your grief, 
Or you deny me right. Go but apart, 
Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will, 
And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me. 185 

170, 171. he Ff Delius Furness | Q2 I Gramercy Ff Rowe Capell. 
a Q2 I a' Globe Camb. 180. be wi' you | buy ye Fi. 

175. was as Q2 I as Ff. 181. God Q2 I you Gods Fi. 

179. God ha' mercy | God a mercy 182. commune Q2 I common Fi. 

Hood, and the tune is found in more than one Elizabethan song 
book. Cf. The Two Noble Kinsmen, IV, i, 107 : " I can sing The 
Broom and Bonny Robin." 

168. Thought: grief. Cf. Ill, i, 85. — passion: suffering. 

170-179. This seems to be from a song called The Merrie Milk- 
maids, or The Milkmaids' Dumps. It is travestied in Eastward Hoe, 
the play written by Jonson, Chapman, and Marston, in which Hamlet 
is burlesqued as a foolish footman. 



scene vi HAMLET 175 

If by direct or by collateral hand 

They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give, 

Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours, 

To you in satisfaction ; but if not, 

Be you content to lend your patience to us, 190 

And we shall jointly labour with your soul 

To give it due content. 

Laertes. Let this be so ; 

His means of death, his obscure burial — 
No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones, 
No noble rite nor formal ostentation — 195 

Cry to be heard, as 't were from heaven to earth, 
That I must call 't in question. 

King. So you shall; 

And where th' offence is let the great axe fall. 
I pray you, go with me. \_Exeunt] 

Scene VI. Another room in the castle 

Enter Horatio and a Servant 

Horatio. What are they that would speak with me ? 
Servant. Sailors, sir ; they say they have letters for you. 

193. burial F3F4 Delius Furness Scene VI Capell | Scene VIII 
I buriall F1F2 I funerall Q2 I funeral Pope. — Another . . . castle \ Q2 Ff 
Globe Camb. omit. — Enter . . . a Servant | Enter 

197. call 't Q2 I call Ff ... Attendant Ff. 

194. hatchment: escutcheon. Shortened and altered from 'achieve- 
ment' through the forms atcheament, atchement, atch'nient. — Murray. 

195. The funerals of knights and persons of rank were made with 
great ceremony and ostentation formerly. Sir John Hawkins ob- 
serves that " the sword, the helmet, the gauntlet, spurs, and tabard 
are still hung over the grave of every knight." 



176 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Horatio. Let them come in. [Exit Servant] 

I do not know from what part of the world 
I should be greeted, if not from Lord Hamlet. 5 

Enter Sailors 

1 Sailor. God bless you, sir. 

Horatio. Let him bless thee too. 

1 Sailor. He shall, sir, and 't please him. There 's a 
letter for you, sir — it comes from th' ambassador that was 
bound for England — if your name be Horatio, as I am let 
to know it is. n 

Horatio. \Reads~\ Horatio, when thou shalt have overlook'd 
this, give these fellows some means to the king ; they have let- 
ters for him. Ere we were two days old at sea, a pirate of very 
warlike appointment gave us chase. Finding ourselves too slow 
of sail, we put on a compell'd valour. In the grapple I boarded 
them. On the instant they got clear of our ship ; so I alone 
became their prisoner. They have dealt with me like thieves 
of mercy : but they knew what they did ; I am to do a good 
turn for them. Let the king have the letters I have sent, and 
repair thou to me with as much haste as thou wouldest fly death. 
I have words to speak in thine ear will make thee dumb ; yet 
are they much too light for the bore of the matter. These good 
fellows will bring thee where I am. Rosencrantz and Guilden- 
stern hold their course for England ; of them I have much to 
tell thee. Farewell. He that thou knowest thine, Hamlet. 

Come, I will give you way for these your letters; 27 

21. haste F3F4 Delius | hast F1F2 I your Ff Rowe | thy Pope. 

speed Q4 Globe Camb | speede Q2. 27. give Delius | giue Ff | make 

22. thine Q2 Globe Camb Delius Q4 Globe Camb | Q2 omits. 

18-19. thieves of mercy : merciful thieves. 

23. bore : caliber, capacity. The figure is from gunnery. 



scene vii HAMLET 1 77 

And do 't the speedier, that you may direct me 

To him from whom you brought them. \_Exeunt~\ 



Scene VII. Another room in the castle 

Enter King, and Laertes 

King. Now must your conscience my acquittance seal, 
And you must put me in your heart for friend, 
Sith you have heard, and with a knowing ear, 
That he which hath your noble father slain 
Pursu'd my life. 

Laertes. It well appears. But tell me, 5 

Why you proceeded not against these feats, 
So crimeful and so capital in nature, 
As by your safety, wisdom, all things else, 
You mainly were stirr'd up. 

King. O, for two special reasons, 

Which may to you, perhaps, seem much unsinew'd, 10 

But yet to me they are strong. The queen his mother 
Lives almost by his looks ; and for myself — 
My virtue or my plague, be it either which — 
She 's so conjunctive to my life and soul 
That, as the star moves not but in his sphere, 15 

I could not but by her. The other motive 
Why to a public count I might not go, 

Scene VII Capell I Scene IX 8. safety Ff | safetie, greatnes Q2. 

Pope. — Another . . . castle\ Q2Ff omit. 11. But Q2 Globe [ And Ff Delius. 

9. mainly: powerfully. Cf. Troilus and Cressida, IV, iv, 87. 

15. See note on the Ptolemaic astronomy, I, v, 17. 

17. count : account, reckoning. Cf. ' compt,' Othello, V, ii, 273. 



178 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Is the great love the general gender bear him ; 

Who, dipping all his faults in their affection, 

Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone, 20 

Convert his gyves to graces ; so that my arrows, 

Too lightly timber'd for so loud a wind, 

Would have reverted to my bow again, 

And not where I had aim'd them. 

Laertes. And so have I a noble father lost, 25 

A sister driven into desperate terms, 
Whose worth, if praises may go back again, 
Stood challenger on mount of all the age 
For her perfections. But my revenge will come. 

King. Break not your sleeps for that. You must not 
think 30 

That we are made of stuff so flat and dull 
That we can let our beard be shook with danger 
And think it pastime. You shortly shall hear more. 
I lov'd your father, and we love ourself, 
And that, I hope, will teach you to imagine — 35 

20. Would Ff I Worke Q2 Malone 24. aim'd Q2 I arm'd Fi. 

Steevens Grant White. 27. Whose worth Q2 I Who was 

ax. gyves Fi | giues Q2. Ff | Who has Johnson. 

18. general gender : common people. Cf . "gender of herbs," Othello, 
I, iii, 326. In this sense ' gender ' is a doublet of < genus.' 

20. Baths at King's Newnham, Warwickshire, had this property. 
Clar quotes from Lyly, Euphues: "Would I had sipped of that 
ryuer in Caria, which turneth those that drink of it to stones." 

21. Punishment would endear him the more to the people. 

22. "Weak bowes and lyghte shaftes can not stand in a rough 
wind." — Ascham, Toxophilus. 

27. Either, (1) If I may praise her for what she was, but has now 
ceased to be ; or, (2) If I may go back to her as a theme of praise. 

28. Stood on a height, challenging all the world. 



scene vii HAMLET 179 

Enter a Messenger, with letters 

How now ! what news ? 

Messenger. Letters, my lord, from Hamlet : 

This to your majesty ; this to the queen. 

King. From Hamlet ! who brought them? 

Messenger. Sailors, my lord, they say ; I saw them not : 
They were given me by Claudio ; he receiv'd them 40 

Of him that brought them. 

King. Laertes, you shall hear them. 

Leave us. \_Exit Messenger] 

\_Reads\ High and mighty : You shall know I am set naked 
on your kingdom. To-morrow shall I beg leave to see your 
kingly eyes, when I shall, first asking your pardon thereunto, 
recount the occasion of my sudden and more strange return. 

Hamlet. 

What should this mean? Are all the rest come back? 
Or is it some abuse, and no such thing? 

Laertes. Know you the hand ? 

King. 'T is Hamlet's character. ' Naked ! ' 

And in a postscript here he says, 'alone.' 51 

Can you advise me? 

Laertes. I''m lost in it, my lord. But let him come; 
It warms the very sickness in my heart, 
That I shall live and tell him to his teeth, 55 

1 Thus didest thou.' 

41. Of . . . them Q2 I Ff omit. casions Ff Rowe Delius. 

46. occasion Q2 Globe Camb | Oc- 49. and Q2 I or Ff. 

49. abuse : deception, delusion. Cf. the verb, II, ii, 590. 

50. character : handwriting. Cf. The Winter' 's Tale, V, ii, 38. 

56. didest. Some editors adopt the First Quarto reading, ' diest' 



180 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

King. If it be so, Laertes — 

As how should it be so ? How otherwise ? — 
Will you be rul'd by me? 

Laertes. Ay, my lord, 

If so you '11 not o'errule me to a peace. 

King. To thine own peace. If he be now return'd, 60 
As checking at his voyage, and that he means 
No more to undertake it, I will work him 
To an exploit, now ripe in my device, 
Under the which he shall not choose but fall ; 
And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe, 65 

But even his mother shall uncharge the practice 
And call it accident. 

Laertes. My lord, I will be rul'd ; 

The rather, if you could devise it so 
That I might be the organ. 

King. It falls right. 

You have been talk'd of since your travel much, 70 

And that in Hamlet's hearing, for a quality 
Wherein, they say, you shine. Your sum of parts 
Did not together pluck such envy from him, 

58. Ay, my lord Q2 I Ff omit. 61. checking Ff | the king Q2. 

59. If so you '11 Ff Rowe | So you 67-80. Laertes. My lord . . . and 
will Q2 Globe Camb Delius. graveness Q2 I Ff omit. 

57. How should it be either true or not true ? The thing seems 
incredible either way — that Hamlet should have returned, or that 
the letter should not be in his handwriting. 

61. checking at : refusing to pursue. A falconry term. Cf. Twelfth 
Night, II, v, 125; III, i, 71. "For who knows not, quoth she, that 
this hawk, which comes now so fair to the fist, may tomorrow check 
at any lure ?" — Hinde, Eliosto Libidinoso. 

66. uncharge the practice : acquit the proceeding of foul play. 



scene vii HAMLET l8l 

As did that one, and that, in my regard, 
Of the unworthiest siege. 

Laertes. What part is that, my lord? 75 

King. A very riband in the cap of youth, 
Yet needful too ; for youth no less becomes 
The light and careless livery that it wears 
Than settl'd age his sables and his weeds, 
Importing health and graveness. Two months since, 80 
Here was a gentleman of Normandy ; — 
I 've seen myself, and serv'd against, the French, 
And they can well on horseback ; but this gallant 
Had witchcraft in 't ; he grew unto his seat, 
And to such wondrous doing brought his horse 85 

As had he been incorps'd and demi-natur'd 
With the brave beast. So far he topp'd my thought, 
That I, in forgery of shapes and tricks, 
Come short of what he did. 

Laertes. A Norman was.'t? 

King. A Norman. 9° 

80. Two months since Q2 I Some 84. unto Q2 I into Ff. 

two months hence Ff. 87. topp'd | topt Q2 | past Ff. — 

83. can Q2 I ran Ff. my thought Ff | me thought Q2. 

75. unworthiest siege : lowest rank. Cf. Othello, I, ii, 22. 

80. ' Health ' refers to '. the light and careless livery ' of youth, as 
'graveness' does to the 'sables' (see note, III, ii, 113) and the 
■ weeds ' of ' settl'd age.' Schmidt interprets 'health' as 'prosperity.' 

83. can. Shakespeare often uses ' can ' (see Murray) in this abso- 
lute way. Cf. King Lear, IV, iv, 8 ; The Tempest, IV, i, 27 ; The 
Phoenix and Turtle, 14. 

86. incorps'd: incorporate, of one body with. "The mythical Cen- 
taur was doubtless in Shakespeare's mind." — Chambers. 

87. topp'd: surpassed. Cf. Macbeth, IV, iii, 57. 

88. forgery: invention. Cf. A Midsummer Night's Z>ream,II,i,Si. 



182 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Laertes. Upon my life, Lamond. 

King. The very same. 

Laertes. I know him well; he is the brooch, indeed, 
And gem of all the nation. 

King. He made confession of you, 
And gave you such a masterly report 95 

For art and exercise in your defence, 
And for your rapier most especially, 
That he cried out, 't would be a sight indeed, 
If one could match you. The scrimers of their nation, 
He swore, had neither motion, guard, nor eye, 100 

If you oppos'd them. Sir, this report of his 
Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy 
That he could nothing do but wish and beg 
Your sudden coming o'er, to play with him. 
Now, out of this — 

Laertes. What out of this, my lord? 105 

King. Laertes, was your father dear to you? 
Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, 
A face without a heart? 

Laertes. Why ask you this? 

King. Not that I think you did not love your father, 
But that I know love is begun by time, no 

91. Lamond Pope Globe Camb | | especial Q2 Globe Camb. 
Lamound Ff | Lamord Q2 Delius. 99-101. The scrimers . . . oppos'd 

93. the Q2 I our Ff. them Q2 I Ff omit. 
97. especially Ff Delius Furness 105. What Q2 I Why Ff. 

91. Lamond. Refers possibly to Pietro Monte, instructor to Louis 
XH's (usually given, incorrectly, Louis VII) master of the horse. 

92. brooch : conspicuous ornament. Often worn in the hat. 
96. defence : skill in the science of defence or sword practice. 
99. scrimers : fencers. An anglicized form of the Fr. escrimeurs. 



scene vii HAMLET 183 

And that I see, in passages of proof, 

Time qualifies the spark and fire of it. 

There lives within the very flame of love 

A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it, 

And nothing is at a like goodness still ; 115 

For goodness, growing to a plurisy, 

Dies in his own too much. That we would do, 

We should do when we would ; for this ' would ' changes, 

And hath abatements and delays as many 

As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents ; 120 

And then this ' should ' is like a spendthrift sigh, 

That hurts by easing. But, to th' quick o' the ulcer ; 

Hamlet comes back. What would you undertake, 

To show yourself your father's son in deed 

More than in words? 

Laertes. To cut his throat i' th' church. 125 

King. No place, indeed, should murder sanctuarize ; 

113-122. There lives . . . the ulcer Q2 I Ff omit. 

in. passages of proof : instances in experience. 

116. plurisy: excess. Elizabethan dramatists often used the word 
as if it came from the Lat. phis, flluris. ' Goodness, growing to a 
plurisy,' is much the same as Burns's " unco guid." Cf. Massinger's 
Unnatural Combat, IV, i, 136, where Malefort says to his daughter, 
" Thy plurisy of goodness is thy ill." 

121-122. An allusion to the old belief that sighing shortened life 
by drawing the blood from the heart. Cf. A Midsummer Night's 
Dream, III, ii, 97. Cf. 2 Henry VI, III, ii, 63. The expression " Day 
sorrow drinks our blood " occurs in Romeo and Juliet, III, v, 59. 

126. Murder should not have the protection or privilege of sanc- 
tuary in any place. The allusion is to the rights of sanctuary with 
which certain religious places were formerly invested, so that crimi- 
nals resorting to them were shielded not only from .private revenge, 
but from the arm of the law. 



184 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Revenge should have no bounds. But, good Laertes, 

Will you do this, keep close within your chamber. 

Hamlet return'd shall know you are come home. 

We '11 put on those shall praise your excellence, 130 

And set a double varnish on the fame 

The Frenchman gave you ; bring you, in fine, together, 

And wager on your heads. He, being remiss, 

Most generous, and free from all contriving, 

Will not peruse the foils, so that, with ease 135 

Or with a little shuffling, you may choose 

A sword unbated, and, in a pass of practice, 

Requite him for your father. 

Laertes, I will do 't; 

And for that purpose I '11 anoint my sword. 
I bought an unction of a mountebank, 140 

So mortal that but dip a knife in it, 
Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare, 
Collected from all simples that have virtue 
Under the moon, can save the thing from death 
That is but scratch'd withal ; I '11 touch my point 145 

With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly, 
It may be death. 

King. Let 's further think of this ; 

141. that but dip Q2 I I but dipt Ff. 

130. put on : instigate. Cf. V, ii, 387. 

137. unbated : unblunted, without the button. — pass of practice, 
This may mean either (1) treacherous thrust, or (2) a thrust made 
as in exercise of skill, without any purpose of harm. 

140. mountebank: quack doctor. Cf. Othello, I, iii, 61. 

142. cataplasm : plaster, poultice. The word is still in use. 

143. simples : herbs (as single elements in a compound). 



scene vii HAMLET 185 

"Weigh what convenience both of time and means 

May fit us to our shape. If this should fail, 

And that our drift look through our bad performance, 150 

'Twere better not assay'd; therefore this project 

Should have a back or second, that might hold 

If this should blast in proof. Soft ! let me see : 

We '11 make a solemn wager on your cunnings, — 

I ha't ! 155 

When in your motion you are hot and dry — 

As make your bouts more violent to that end — 

And that he calls for drink, I '11 have prepar'd him 

A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping, 

If he by chance escape your venom'd stuck, 160 

Our purpose may hold there. But stay, what noise? 

Enter Queen 

How now, sweet queen ! 

Queen. One woe doth tread upon another's heel, 
So fast they follow. Your sister 's drown'd, Laertes. 

153. should Ff Globe Delius Fur- 161. But stay, what noise Q2 
ness I did Q2 Camb. Camb Delius | Ff Globe omit. 

154. cunnings Q2 I commings Fi. 162. How now F2F3F4 I how Fi. 

155. ha't Ff I hate Q2. 163. Scene X Pope. 

157. that Q2 I the Ff . 164. they Q2 I they '1 Ff Rowe. 

150. If our intention should expose or betray itself. 
153. blast in proof : burst in the test (like a cannon). 

159. for the nonce : for the particular purpose. The phrase is a 
corruption of the Middle English for than anes, than being an old 
dative form of the demonstrative 'that.' Murray uses 'nonceword' 
to describe a word that is constructed to serve a need of the moment. 

160. stuck : thrust. " More properly ' stock,' an abbreviation of 
stoccado (stoccata)."—T>yce. Cf. Twelfth Night, III, iv, 303: "he 
gives me the stuck in with such a mortal motion." 



186 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Laertes. Drown ' d ! O, where? 165 

Queen. There is a willow grows aslant a brook, 
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream ; 
There with fantastic garlands did she come 
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples, 
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, 170 

But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them ; 
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds 
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke, 
When down her weedy trophies and herself 
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, 175 
And, mermaid-like, a while they bore her up ; 
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes, 
As one incapable of her own distress, 
Or like a creature native and indued 
Unto that element ; but long it could not be 180 

174. her Q2 I the Ff. 177. tunes Ff | laudes Q2 I lauds 

176. a while Ff Camb | awhile Q2 Q5 Elze Keightley. 

Globe Delius. 179. indued Fi | deduced F2F3F4. 

165. Coleridge thus comments on the death of Ophelia : "... who 
in the beginning lay like a little projection of land into a lake or 
stream, covered with spray-flowers, quietly reflected in the quiet 
waters, but at length is undermined or loosened, and becomes a 
fairy isle, and after a brief vagrancy sinks almost without an eddy." 

166. The willow is significant of forsaken love. Cf. Othello, IV, 
iii, 28 : " she had a song of 'willow.' " 

170. liberal. Either (1) 'free-spoken' (cf. Richard II, II, i, 229), 
or (2) 'licentious' (cf. Much Ado about Nothing, IV, i, 93). 

177. tunes. The ' laudes ' (' psalms,' ' hymns ') of the Second 
Quarto might well be preferred, as agreeing better with * chanted,' 
and as conveying a touch of pathos which ' tunes ' does not quite 
reach. ' Tunes ' suits better the song snatches in Scene V. 

178. incapable of : insensible to. Cf . * capable,' III, ii, 10. 

179. indued : " endowed with properties suited to." — Malone. 



scene vii HAMLET 187 

Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, 
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay- 
To muddy death. 

Laertes. Alas, then is she drown'd? 

Queen. Drown'd, drown'd ! 

Laertes. Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, 
And therefore I forbid my tears ; but yet 186 

It is our trick ; nature her custom holds, 
Let shame say what it will ; when these are gone, 
The woman will be out. Adieu, my lord ; 
I have a speech of fire, that fain would blaze, 190 

But that this folly douts it. \_Exif\ 

King. Let 's follow, Gertrude ; 

How much I had to do to calm his rage ! 
Now fear I this will give it start again ; 
Therefore let 's follow. \Exeunt\ 

181. their Q2 I her Ff. Furnesslshe is drown'd ! Pope Globe 

182. poor wretch | poore wench Camb Jshe is drownd Q2. 

Q4Q5. igifdouts Knight | doubts Fi | 

183. is she drown'd? Ff Delius drownes Q2F2. 

183-184. As Corson indicates, the Queen's reply shows that 
Laertes's speech must have been meant to be interrogative. 

189. The woman will be out. Clar quotes, as a fitting commentary 
on this, Henry V, IV, vi, 30-32 : 

But I had not so much of man in me, 
And all my mother came into mine eyes, 
And gave me up to tears. 

Cf. also Twelfth Night, II, i, 41-43: "I am yet so near the manners 
of my mother that upon the least occasion more mine eyes will tell 
tales of me." 

191. douts: does out, puts out. Cf. Henry V, IV, ii, 11. 



ACT V 

Scene I. A churchyard 

Enter two Clowns, with spades, drc. 

i Clown. Is she to be buried in Christian burial that 
wilfully seeks her own salvation? 

2 Clown. I tell thee she is ; and therefore make her 
grave straight. The crowner hath sat on her, and finds it 
Christian burial. 5 

1 Clown. How can that be, unless she drown 'd herself 
in her own defence? 

2 Clown. Why, 't is found so. 

1 Clown. It must be * se off endendo ' ; it cannot be else. 
For here lies the point : If I drown myself wittingly, it argues 
an act, and an act hath three branches ; it is, to act, to do, 
and to perform ; argal she drown'd herself wittingly. 12 

ACT V. Scene I | Ff omit.— i,6,etc. 1 Clown | Clown (Clo)Ff. 

A churchyard Capell | Ff omit. — 3. 2 Clown | Other Ff. 

Enter . . . &>c. | Enter two Clownes 11. to act Q2 I an Act Ff. 

Q2Ff I Clowns F3F4. 12. argal | or all Q2. 

2. salvation. The Clowns, like Dogberry and Launcelot Gobbo, 
use many words that mean exactly the opposite of what they intend. 

4. straight: straightway, immediately. But Johnson interprets, 
" from east to west in a direct line, parallel with the church." 

9. The Clown tries to show off his legal learning and mistakes 
offendendo for defendendo. Cf. Sir Toby Belch's law phrases. 

12. argal. The Clown's corruption of ergo, ' therefore.' The word 
' argal ' is sometimes applied to-day to a bit of clumsy reasoning. 

188 



SCENE I 



HAMLET 189 



2 Clown. Nay, but hear you, goodman delver, — 

1 Clown. Give me leave. Here lies the water ; good. 
Here stands the man ; good. If the man go to this water 
and drown himself, it is, will he nil! he, he goes, — mark 
you that ; but if the water come to him and drown him, he 
drowns not himself ; argal he that is not guilty of his own 
death shortens not his own life. 

2 Clown. But is this law ? 20 

1 Clown. Ay, marry, is 't ; crowner's quest law. 

2 Clown. Will you ha' the truth on 't ? If this had not 
been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o' 
Christian burial. 24 

1 Clown. Why, there thou say'st ; and the more pity that 
great folk should have countenance in this world to drown 
or hang themselves, more than their even Christian. Come, 

27. Christian Ff | Christen Q2. 

13. The First Clown is the sexton ; the Second a laborer. 

16. nill : will not. Cf. Pericles, III, Prologue, 55. 

21. Sir lohn Hawkins thinks that Shakespeare here meant to 
ridicule a case reported by Plowden. Sir James Hales had drowned 
himself in a fit of insanity, and the legal question was whether his 
lease was thereby forfeited to the Crown. Much subtilty was ex- 
pended in finding out whether Sir James was the 'agent' or the 
'patient'; that is, whether he went to the water or the water came 
to him. The following is part of the argument : 

Sir James Hales was dead, and how came he to his death ? It may be 
answered, by drowning ; and who drowned him ? Sir James Hales ; and 
when did he drown him ? In his lifetime. So that Sir James Hales being 
alive caused Sir James Hales to die, and the act of the living man was the 
death of the dead man. 

— crowner's quest : coroner's inquest. ' Crowner' is still often heard 
in dialect. With ' quest ' cf. Richard III, I, iv, 189. 

26. countenance : encouragement. 

27. even Christian : fellow Christian. Chaucer has ' evencristen.' 



190 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

my spade. There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners, 

ditchers, and grave-makers ; they hold up Adam's profession. 

2 Clown. Was he a gentleman? 30 

1 Clown. A was the first that ever bore arms. 

2 Clown. Why, he had none. 

1 Clown. What, art a heathen ? How dost thou under- 
stand the Scripture? The Scripture says, Adam digg'd; 
could he dig without arms? I '11 put another question to 
thee. If thou answer est me not to the purpose, confess 
thyself — 

2 Clown. Go to. 

1 Clown. What is he that builds stronger than either the 
mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter? 40 

2 Clown. The gallows-maker ; for that frame outlives a 
thousand tenants. 

1 Clown. I like thy wit well, in good faith. The gallows 
does well; but how does it well? It does well to those that 
do ill : now, thou dost ill to say the gallows is built stronger 
than the church ; argal the gallows may do well to thee. 
To 't again ; come. 

2 Clown. Who builds stronger than a mason, a ship- 
wright, or a carpenter? 

1 Clown. Ay, tell me that, and unyoke. 50 

2 Clown. Marry, now I can tell. 

31. A Q2 I A' Globe Camb | He Ff. 

28-29. The allusion is to the fourteenth century couplet, " When 
Adam dolve, and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman ? " 

31. A : he. Modern editors often print 'a" or « 'a.' 

36-37. " Confess thyself and be hanged " was a common Eliza- 
bethan expression. 

50. unyoke. " Unharness the team of your wit." — Dowden. 



scene i HAMLET 191 

1 Clown. To 't. 

2 Clown. Mass, I cannot tell. 53 

» 

Enter Hamlet and Horatio afar off 

1 Clown. Cudgel thy brains no more about it, for your 
dull ass will not mend his pace with beating; and, when you 
are ask'd this question next, say 'a grave-maker ' ; the houses 
that he makes lasts till doomsday. Go, get thee to Yaughan ; 
fetch me a stoup of liquor. [Exit 2 Clown] 

He digs and sings 

In youth, when I did love, did love, 

Methought it was very sweet, 60 

To contract, O the time, for-a my behove, 
O, methought there was nothing meet. 

Hamlet. Has this fellow no feeling of his business, that 
he sings at grave-making? 

Horatio. Custom hath made it in him a property of 
easiness. 

Hamlet. 'Tis e'en so. The hand of little employment 
hath the daintier sense. 
1 Clown. [Sings] 

But age, with his stealing steps, 

Hath claw'd me in his clutch, 70 

58. [Exit . . . Rowe | Ff omit. Globe Furness. — nothing Ff | noth- 

61. for-a Camb Delius I for a Q2 ing a Q2 | nothing-a Camb Delius. 
Ff I for, ah Capell Globe Furness. 70. claw'd Pope | clawed Q2 I 

62. there Ff Globe Delius Fur- caught Ff Rowe Staunton, 
ness I there a Q2 I there-a Camb 

57. Yaughan. Probably the name of an Elizabethan tavern keeper. 

59. A blundering version of a song written by Lord Vaux and 
printed in TottePs Miscellany, 1557. 

61. Sometimes printed so as to make 'O' and 'a' ('for-a') rep- 
resent the Clown's gruntings as he digs. 



192 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

And hath shipp'd me intil the land, 
As if I had never been such. 

[.Throws up a skulf\ 

Hamlet. That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing 
once. How the knave jowls it to th' ground, as if it were 
Cain's jaw-bone, that did the first murder ! It might be the 
pate of a politician, which this ass now o'erreaches ; one 
that would circumvent God, might it not? 77 

Horatio. It might, my lord. 

Hamlet. Or of a courtier, which could say ' Good mor- 
row, sweet lord ! How dost thou, good lord ? ' This might 
be my lord such-a-one, that prais'd my lord such-a-one's 
horse, when he meant to beg it, — might it not ? 82 

■Horatio. Ay, my lord. 

Hamlet. Why, e'en so ; and now my Lady Worm's ; 
chapless, and knock'd about the mazzard with a sexton's 
spade. Here 's fine revolution, if we had the trick to see 't. 
Did these bones cost no more the breeding, but to play at 
loggats with 'em? mine ache to think on 't. 

72. {Throws . . . Capell ]Q2Ff omit. 77. would Q2 I could Ff. 

76. now o'erreaches | now ore- 86. if Ff | and Q2 1 an Capell Globe 

reaches Q2 I o're Offices Fi. Camb Delius. 

74-75. In Cursor Mundi is a reference to a legend that Cain slew 
Abel with the jaw-bone of an ass. 

76. politician : plotter, schemer. " The word is always used in a 
bad sense by Shakespeare." — Clar. — o'erreaches: circumvents. In 
defence of the Folio reading, it has been pointed out that ' office ' as 
a verb occurs in Coriolanus, V, ii, 68, and in All's Well that Ends 
Well, III, ii, 129. 

85. chapless: jawless. — mazzard: head. A form of 'mazer,' 'a bowl.' 

88. loggats. This was a game somewhat like quoits, in which 
pear-shaped pieces of wood (small ' logs ') are thrown at a mark, the 
'jack,' on an ash-strewn floor. 



scene I HAMLET 193 

1 Clown. [Sings'] 

A pick-axe, and a spade, a spade, 

For and a shrouding sheet ; 90 

O, a pit of clay for to be made 
For such a guest is meet. 

[ Throws up another skull] 

Hamlet. There 's another ; why may not that be the 
skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddits now, his quillets, 
his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? why does he suffer 
this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce with a 
dirty shovel, and will not tell him of his action of battery? 
Hum ! This fellow might be in 's time a great buyer of 
land, with his statutes, his recognizances, his fines, his 
double vouchers, his recoveries. Is this the fine of his 
fines, and the recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine 

92. [Throws ... I Q2Ff omit. 94. of | of of Fi. — quiddits Ff 

93. may Q2 I might Ff . Delius | quiddities Q2 Globe Camb. 

90. For and : and moreover. " The break after ' For ' inserted by 
modern editors is quite wrong." — Dyce. ' And eke ' is the equiva- 
lent expression in the version of the song given by Percy. 

94. The 'of of of the First Folio may not be a misprint but an 
indication of hesitancy as Hamlet looks at the skull and ponders. — 
quiddits : quiddities, subtleties, quibbles. The Schoolmen used quid- 
ditas to describe the real, distinctive nature of a thing. — quillets. 
This may be defined in the same way as ' quiddits ' and, as Murray 
suggests, is probably a form of the same word. The derivation from 
quod libet, or quid libet, is ingenious but unlikely. 

96. sconce : head. In The Comedy of Errors, II, ii, 27> it is used 
punningly in the sense of ' helmet.' 

99-100. statutes . . . recoveries. Technical legal terms connected 
with the sale, or transfer, of land. Shakespeare's own purchases of 
land are worth remembering in this connection. 

100-102. These four 'fines' are used punningly in as many different 
senses; (i)'end'; (2) ' legal process'; (3) ' elegant ' ; (4) ' small.' 



194 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

pate full of fine dirt ? Will his vouchers vouch him no more 
of his purchases, and double ones too, than the length and 
breadth of a pair of indentures ? The very conveyances of 
his lands will hardly lie in this box, and must the inheritor 
himself have no more, ha? 106 

Horatio. Not a jot more, my lord. 

Hamlet. Is not parchment made of sheep-skins? 

Horatio. Ay, my lord, and of calf-skins too. 

Hamlet. They are sheep and calves which seek out 
assurance in that. I will speak to this fellow. Whose 
grave's this, sirrah? 

i Clown. Mine, sir. 

[Sings'] O, a pit of clay for to be made 

For such a guest is meet. 1 1 5 

Hamlet. I think it be thine indeed, for thou liest in 't. 

1 Clown. You lie out on 't, sir, and therefore it is not 
yours. For my part, I do not lie in 't, and yet it is mine. 

Hamlet. Thou dost lie in 't, to be in 't and say it is thine. 
'T is for the dead, not for the quick ; therefore thou liest. 120 

1 Clown. 'T is a quick lie, sir ; 't will away again, from 
me to you. 

no. which Q2 I that Ff. 117. it is Ff Globe Delius Fur- 

112. sirrah Q6 I sirra Q2 I sir Ff. ness | tis Q2 I 'tis Camb. 

104. pair of indentures. Contracts were usually drawn up in dupli- 
cate on the same sheet of parchment, which was cut in two in a 
toothed, or indented, line, to guard against counterfeits and to prove 
genuineness in case of controversy. 

105. inheritor: owner. Cf. 'inherit,' The Tempest, IV, i, 154. 

in. assurance in that: safety in legal parchments. There is a play 
on the legal sense of ' assurance ' in the Elizabethan time, ' convey- 
ance of lands by deed.' 



scene I HAMLET 195 

Hamlet. What man dost thou dig it for? 

1 Clown. For no man, sir. 

Hamlet. What woman, then? 125 

1 Clown. For none, neither. 

Hamlet. Who is to be buried in 't? 

1 Clown. One that was a woman, sir ; but, rest her soul, 
she 's dead. 

Hamlet. How absolute the knave is ! We must speak 
by the card, or equivocation will undo us. By the Lord, 
Horatio, these three years I have taken note of it ; the age 
is grown so picked, that the toe of the peasant comes so 
near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe. How long 
hast thou been a grave-maker? 135 

1 Clown. Of all the days i' th' year, I came to 't that 
day that our last king Hamlet o'ercame Fortinbras. 

Hamlet. How long is that since? 

1 Clown. Cannot you tell that? every fool can tell that. 
It was the very day that young Hamlet was born ; he that 
is mad, and sent into England. 

Hamlet. Ay, marry, why was he sent into England? 

1 Clown. Why, because a was mad. A shall recover his 
wits there ; or, if a do not, it 's no great matter there. 

Hamlet. Why? 145 

1 Clown. 'T will not be seen in him there ; there the 
men are as mad as he. 

132. these Ff Globe I this Q2Camb. courtier Q2 I our Courtier Ff. 
134. heel Q2 I heeles Fi. — the 141. is Q2 I was Ff. 

131. by the card: with precision. Cf. Osric's expression, V, ii, 109. 

133. picked : finical, particular. Cf. Love's Labour 's Lost, V, i, 14: 
* He is too picked, too spruce, too affected." 

134. kibe: chilblain. Cf. The Tempest, II, i, 276. 



196 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Hamlet. How came he mad? 

1 Clown. Very strangely, they say. 

Hamlet. How ' strangely ■ ? 150 

1 Clown. Faith, e'en with losing his wits. 

Hamlet. Upon what ground? 

1 Clown. Why, here in Denmark. I have been sexton 
here, man and boy, thirty years. 154 

Hamlet. How long will a man lie i' th' earth ere he rot? 

1 Clown. I' faith, if a be not rotten before a die — as 
we have many pocky corses now-a-days that will scarce hold 
the laying in — a will last you some eight year or nine 
year ; a tanner will last you nine year. 

Hamlet. Why he more than another? 160 

1 Clown. Why, sir, his hide is so tann'd with his trade 
that a will keep out water a great while ; and your water is 
a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body. Here 's a skull 
now; this skull has lain in the earth three-and- twenty years. 

Hamlet. Whose was it? 165 

1 Clown. A whoreson mad fellow's it was. Whose do 
you think it was? 

Hamlet. Nay, I know not. 

153. sexton Q4 I Sexten Q2 I sixteene Fi. 

154. thirty years. This, in connection with line 140, and line 164 
(where the First Quarto has 'this dozen years'), would make Hamlet 
thirty years of age ; but the First Quarto reading, and what is im- 
plied in I, ii, 113, make clear that Shakespeare thought of him as 
much youngerl Furnivall comments as follows : 

When Shakespeare began the play he conceived Hamlet as quite a young 
man ; but as the play grew, as greater weight of reflection, of insight into 
character, of knowledge of life, etc., were wanted, he necessarily and natu- 
rally made Hamlet a formed man ; and by the time he got to the grave-diggers' 
scene, told us the Prince was thirty — the right age for him then. 



scene I HAMLET 197 

1 Clown. A pestilence on him for a mad rogue ! A 
pour'd a flagon of Rhenish on my head once. This same 
skull, sir, was Yorick's skull, the king's jester. 

Hamlet. This ? 

1 Clown. E'en that. 173 

Hamlet. Let me see. [Takes the skuW\ Alas, poor 
Yorick ! I knew him, Horatio ; a fellow of infinite jest, of 
most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a 
thousand times ; and now how abhorred in my imagination 
it is ! my gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have 
kiss'd I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now, your 
gambols, your songs, your flashes of merriment, that were 
wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock 
your own grinning? quite chop-fallen? Now, get you to my 
lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to 
this favour she must come : make her laugh at that ! Prithee, 
Horatio, tell me one thing. 185 

Horatio. What 's that, my lord ? 

Hamlet. Dost thou think Alexander look'd o' this fashion 
i' th' earth? 

Horatio. E'en so. 

Hamlet. And smelt so ? pah ! [Puts down the skull~\ 

Horatio. E'en so, my lord. 19 1 

Hamlet. To what base uses we may return, Horatio! 
Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander 
till he find it stopping a bung-hole ? 194 

170-171. This ... sir I Ff repeat. Q2 I my Imagination is Ff. 

174. [Takes the skull} Capell 181. Not one Q2 I No one Ff. 

(after line 172) | Q2Ff omit. 182. grinning Q2 I leering Ff. 

177-178. and now how Q2 I And 190. pah Q2 I pun Ff. — [Puts.., 

how Ff. — in my imagination it is Collier | Cj2Ff omit. 

171. "'Yorick' is perhaps the Danish /<?>£- (George)." — Ainger. 



198 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Horatio. 'T were to consider too curiously, to consider so. 

Hamlet. No, faith, not a jot ; but to follow him thither 
with modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it ; as thus : 
Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth 
into dust, the dust is earth, of earth we make loam, and why 
of that loam whereto he was converted might they not stop 
a beer-barrel? 

Imperial Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay, 

Might stop a hole to keep the wind away ; 

O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe, 

Should patch a wall t' expel the winter's flaw ! 205 

But soft ! but soft ! Aside ! here comes the king, 

Enter Priests, drv., in procession; the corpse of Ophelia; 
Laertes and Mourners following ; King, Queen, their 
trains, &*c. 

The queen, the courtiers. Who is that they follow, 

And with such maimed rites ? This doth betoken 

The corse they follow did with desperate hand 

Fordo it own life. 'Twas of some estate. 210 

Couch we awhile, and mark. [Retiring with Horatio] 

Laertes. What ceremony else? 

Hamlet. That is Laertes, a very noble youth ; mark. 

Laertes. What ceremony else? 

1 Priest. Her obsequies have been as far enlarg'd 215 

202. Imperial Ff | Imperious Q2 Queene, Laertes,. and a Coffin, with 

Globe Camb Delius Furness. Lords attendant Ff. 

207. Scene II Pope. — Enter . . . 210. it Q2F1 Globe I it 's F3F4I its 

Malone (after Capell) | Enter King, Camb Delius. — of Q2 I Ff omit. 

205. flaw : gust. "A flaw or gust of wind." — Cotgrave. 

210. Fordo: destroy. Cf. II, i, 102. — it: its. See note, I, ii, 216. 



scene I HAMLET 199 

As we have warrantise. Her death was doubtful ; 

And, but that great command o'ersways the order, 

She should in ground unsanctified have lodg'd 

Till the last trumpet ; for charitable prayers, 

Shards, flints, and pebbles should be thrown on her. 220 

Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants, 

Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home 

Of bell and burial. 

Laertes. Must there no more be done? 

1 Priest. No more be done. 

We should profane the service of the dead 225 

To sing a requiem and such rest to her 
As to peace-parted souls. 

Laertes. Lay her i' th' earth, 

And from her fair and unpolluted flesh 
May violets spring ! I tell thee, churlish priest, 
A minist'ring angel shall my sister be, 230 

When thou liest howling. 

216. warrantise Dyce Delius | 221. crants Q2 Globe Delius Camb 

warrantis Fi | warrantie Q2F2 I war- | Rites Ff Rowe Capell. 
ranty Globe Camb. 226. sing a Q2 I sing sage Ff Rowe 

219. prayers Q2 I praier Ff. Caldecott Knight. 

216. warrantise : warranty. This form occurs in Sonnets, cl. 

220. Shards : fragments of pottery, potsherds. 

221. crants : garland, wreaths. The word was originally singular, 
but came to be treated as plural. It is sometimes found in the form 
' craunce' (German Krantz). Murray quotes Hardiman, Our Prayer- 
Book, as follows : " The crants were garlands which it was usual to 
make of white paper, and to hang up in the church on the occasion 
of a young girl's funeral." 

222. the bringing home. " In these words reference is still made to 
the marriage rites which in the case of maidens are sadly parodied in 
the funeral rites." — Clar. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, IV, v, 84-90. 

227. peace-parted. The later Folios read 'peace-departed.' 



200 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE ACT V 

Hamlet. What, the fair Ophelia ! 

Queen. Sweets to the sweet ; farewell ! 

[ Sea tiering flowers~\ 
I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife ; 
I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, 
And not have strew'd thy grave. 

Laertes. O, treble woe, 235 

Fall ten times treble on that cursed head 
Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense 
Depriv'd thee of ! Hold off the earth awhile, 
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms. 

\_Leaps into the grave] 
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead, 240 

Till of this flat a mountain you have made 
To o'ertop old Pelion, or the skyish head 
Of blue Olympus. 

Hamlet. [Advancing] What is he whose grief 
Bears such an emphasis, whose phrase of sorrow 
Conjures the wand'ring stars and makes them stand 245 
Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I, 
Hamlet the Dane ! \_Leaps into the grave] 

232. [Scattering flowers] Johnson. 243. grief | griefe Q2 I griefes Fi. 

235. have Q2 1 1' haue Ff. — treble 245. Conjures | Coniure Fi. 

woe Q2 I terrible woer Fi. 247. {Leaps . . . | Ff omit. 

237. ingenious sense : keen mind. Cf. King Lear, IV, vi, 287. 

242-243. In the Georgics, I, 281-282, is a description of the 
attempt made by the Titans to scale the sky and dethrone the 
Gods by piling Ossa (line 272) on Pelion, "yea and on Ossa to roll 
Olympus with all its woods." 

245. wand'ring stars : planets. " They bee also called Wandering 
Starres, because they never keepe one certaine place or station in 
the firmament." — Cotgrave. 



SCENE I HAMLET 201 

Laertes. The devil take thy soul ! [ Grappling with hint] 

Hamlet. Thou pray'st not well. 

I prithee, take thy fingers from my throat ; 
For, though I am not splenitive and rash, 250 

Yet have I something in me dangerous, 
Which let thy wiseness fear. Hold off thy hand ! 

King. Pluck them asunder. 

Queen. Hamlet, Hamlet ! 

All. Gentlemen, — 

Horatio. Good my lord, be quiet. 
\The Attendants part them, and they come out of the grave~\ 

Hamlet. Why, I will fight with him upon this theme 255 
Until my eyelids will no longer wag. 

Queen. O my son, what theme? 

Hamlet. I lov'd Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers 
Could not, with all their quantity of love, 
Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her? 260 

King. O, he is mad, Laertes. 

Queen. For love of God, forbear him ! 

Hamlet. 'Swounds, show me what thou 'It do : 
Woo't weep? woo't fight? woo't fast? woo't tear thyself? 
Woo't drink up eisel? eat a crocodile? • 265 

248. \Grapfiling . . . hint] Rowe. 254. HoRATiolHora. Q2lGen.Ff. 

250. For Q2 I Sir Ff. — [The Attendants... grave] Malone. 

251. something in me Ff Globe 263. 'Swounds | S' wounds Q2 I 
Delius I in me something Q2 Camb. 'Zounds Capell | Come Ff. 

252. wiseness Ff Globe Delius | 264. woo't fast Q2 I Ff omit, 
wisedom Q2 I wisdom Camb. 265. eisel Theobald Globe Camb 

253. All. Gentlemen Q2 1 Ff omit. | Esill Q2 Delius | Esile (in italics) Ff. 

264. Woo't : wilt thou. This colloquial form is used either in con- 
tempt of Laertes or to express Hamlet's excited utterance. 

265. eisel. One of the famous cruces of the play. Theobald's 
remark that ' eisel ' either represents the name of a river, or is an 



202 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE ACT v 

I '11 do 't. Dost thou come here to whine? 

To outface me with leaping in her grave ? 

Be buried quick with her, and so will I ; 

And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw 

Millions of acres on us, till our ground, 270 

Singeing his pate against the burning zone, 

Make Ossa like a wart ! Nay, and thou 'It mouth, 

I '11 rant as well as thou. 

Queen. This is mere madness, 

And thus a while the fit will work on him. 
Anon, as patient as the female dove 275 

When that her golden couplets are disclos'd, 
His silence will sit drooping. 

Hamlet. Hear you, sir ; 

What is the reason that you use me thus? 
I lov'd you ever. But it is no matter ; 

267. in I in to F4 I into Rowe. 1 King F2F3F4. 

272. and Q2Ff | an Pope. 276. couplets | cuplets Q2 I cuplet 

273. Queen | Quee. Q2 I Kin. Fi Ff I couplet Delius. 

old word meaning ' vinegar,' gives the two most reasonable expla- 
nations. The evidence favors the interpretation ' vinegar,' " associ- 
ated under this name with gall, as the bitter drink offered to Christ." 
— Herford. Cf. The Salisbury Primer (1555) petition : " Blessed Jesu 
... I beseech thee for the bitterness of the aysell and gall that thou 
tasted." The expression " potions of eisel " occurs in Sonnets, cxr, 
implying the disagreeableness of the drink. In previous editions 
of Hudson's Shakespeare, the reading ' Esill ' was adopted, with 
the suggestion that either the river Yesel (Yssel), or the gulf of 
Isef, was intended. 

268. quick: alive. The primary meaning, as in line 120. 

273. mere : pure, sheer, nothing short of. Lat. merus, ' unmixed.' 
276. golden couplets. The pigeon lays two eggs, and the chicks 

when hatched are covered with yellow down. — disclos'd: hatched. 

Bacon uses it in this sense. See note, III, i, 166. 



scene ii HAMLET 203 

Let Hercules himself do what he may, 280 

The cat will mew, and dog will have his day. [Exit] 

King. I pray you, good Horatio, wait upon him. 

[Exit Horatio] 
[To Laertes] Strengthen your patience in our last night's 

speech ; 
We '11 put the matter to the present push. 
Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son. 285 

This grave shall have a living monument. 
An hour of quiet shortly shall we see ; 
Till then, in patience our proceeding be. [Exeunt] 

Scene II. A hall in the castle 

Enter Hamlet and Horatio 

Hamlet. So much for this, sir; now shall you see the 
other. 
You do remember all the circumstance? 
Horatio. Remember it, my lord ! 

282. you Ff Globe Delius | thee Scene II Rowe | Scene III Pope 
Q2 Camb. — [Exit Horatio] Ff | Ff omit. — A hall in the castlelCa.- 
omit. pell I Ff omit. 

283. [To Laertes] Rowe I Ff 1. shall you Q-2 Globe Camb | let 
omit. — your | you F1F2. me Ff Delius Furness. 

283. in: in the thought of. See Abbott, § 162. 

284. present push: instant test. Cf. The Winter' 's Tale, I, ii, 281; 
V, iii, 129; Macbeth, V, iii, 20. 

286. 'Living' is probably used here "in a double sense ; first, that 
of 'enduring,' as the Queen would understand it; secondly, Laertes 
would be cognizant of the deeper meaning, by which the life of 
Hamlet is menaced." — Clar. 

1. 'The other' refers to "the words to speak in thine ear will 
make thee dumb " in Hamlet's letter to Horatio, IV, vi. 



204 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 



Hamlet. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting 
That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay 5 

Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly, 
And prais'd be rashness for it, let us know, 
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well 
When our deep plots do pall; and that should teach us 
There 's a divinity that shapes our ends, 10 

Rough-hew them how we will. 

Horatio. That is most certain. 

Hamlet. Up from my cabin, 
My sea-gown scarf 'd about me, in the dark 
Grop'd I to find out them ; had my desire, 
Finger'd their packet, and in fine withdrew 15 



7. prais'd | praysd Q2 I praise Ff. 

8. sometimes Ff Globe Delius | 
sometime Q2 Camb. 

9. deep Q2 Globe Camb | deare 



F1F2 I dear F3F4 Delius. — pall Q2 
| paule Fi I fall Q3Q4 I fail Pope Fur- 
ness. — teach Ff Globe Delius | learn 
Q2 Camb. 



4-5. Hamlet has from the first divined the king's purpose in 
sending him to England. Since the close of the interlude, when the 
king was "frighted with false fire," Hamlet knows that the king 
did indeed murder his father, and he also knows that the king 
suspects him of knowing it. Hence, on shipboard, he naturally has 
a vague, general apprehension of mischief, and this as naturally 
fills him with nervous curiosity as to the particular shape of danger 
which he is to encounter. 

6. mutines: mutineers. See note, III, iv, 83. — bilboes: bars of 
iron with fetters annexed to them by which mutinous or disorderly 
sailors were linked together. The word was popularly connected 
with Bilbao (Bilboa) in Spain. To understand the allusion, it should 
be known that, as these fetters connected the legs of the offenders 
very closely together, their attempts to rest must be as fruitless as 
those of Hamlet, in whose mind " there was a kind of fighting that 
would not let him sleep." 

9. pall: fail. " Strengthes begin to pal." — Phaer, Aineid. 

12-18. These details are in BeUeforest. See Introduction, Sources, 



scene ii HAMLET 205 

To mine own room again ; making so bold, 

My fears forgetting manners, to unseal 

Their grand commission ; where I found, Horatio — 

royal knavery ! — an exact command, 

Larded with many several sorts of reasons 20 

Importing Denmark's health, and England's too, 

With, ho ! such bugs and goblins in my life 

That, on the supervise, no leisure bated, 

No, not to stay the grinding of the axe, 

My head should be struck off. 

Horatio. Is 't possible? 25 

Hamlet. Here 's the commission ; read it at more leisure. 
But wilt thou hear me how I did proceed ? 

Horatio. I beseech you. 

Hamlet. Being thus be-netted round with villainies, — 
Ere I could make a prologue to my brains, 30 

They had begun the play, — I sat me down ; 
Devis'd a new commission, wrote it fair. 

1 once did hold it, as our statists do, 

20. reasons Q2 I reason Ff. ness I villaines, Or Q2 I Villaines, Ere 

27. me Fi Globe Delius Furness Fi | villanies, — Ere Globe Dowden 

I now Q2 Camb. | villanies, — Or Camb. 
29-30. villainies,— Ere Delius Fur- 

22. bugs: terrors, bugbears. Cf. The Taming of the Shrew, I, ii, 211. 

23. supervise: perusal. — bated: deducted, subtracted. 
30-31. Without preliminary thinking, my brains formed a plan. 
33-34. statists: statesmen. Cf. Cymbeline, II,iv,i6. So in Words- 
worth's A Poet's Epitaph : 

Art thou a Statist in the van 

Of public conflicts trained and bred? 

— A baseness to write fair. "Most of the great men'of Shakespeare's 
time, whose autographs have been preserved, wrote very bad hands; 
their secretaries very neat ones." — Slackstone. 



206 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

A baseness to write fair, and labour 'd much 

How to forget that learning; but, sir, now 35 

It did me yeoman's service. Wilt thou know 

The effect of what I wrote? 

Horatio. Ay, good my lord. 

Hamlet. An earnest conjuration from the king, 
As England was his faithful tributary, 

As love between them like the palm might flourish, 40 

As peace should still her wheaten garland wear, 
And stand a comma 'tween their amities, 
And many such-like 'as'-es of great charge, 
That on the view and knowing of these contents, 
Without debatement further, more or less, 45 

He should the bearers put to sudden death, 
Not shriving-time allow'd. 

Horatio. How was this seal'd ? 

Hamlet. Why, even in that was heaven ordinant. 
I had my father's signet in my purse, 

37. effect Q2 I effects Ff. 43. 'as'-es | Assis Ff | as sir Q2. 

40. like Q2 I as Ff . — might Q2 I 44. knowing Q2 I know Ff . 

should Ff. 48. ordinant Q2 I ordinate Ff. 

36. " The ancient yeomen were famous for their military valour. 
' These were the good archers in times past,' says Sir Thomas 
Smith, ' and the stable troop of footmen that affraide all France.' " 
— Steevens. Cf. Henry V, III, i, 25 ; Richard III, V, iii, 338. 

42. comma : link. " A comma is the note of connection and con- 
tinuity of sentences ; the period is the note of abruption and dis- 
junction." — Johnson. 

43. 'as'-es. Hamlet has just used 'as ' three times. For another 
pun on ' as ' and ' ass,' see Twelfth Night, II, iii, 183-185. — charge : 
weight, importance, moment. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, V, ii, 18-19: 

The letter was not nice but full of charge 
Of dear import. 



scene ii HAMLET 207 

Which was the model of that Danish seal ; 50 

Folded the writ up in form of the other, 

Subscrib'd it, gave 't th' impression, plac'd it safely, 

The changeling never known. Now, the next day 

Was our sea-fight ; and what to this was sequent 

Thou know'st already. 55 

Horatio. So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to 't. 

Hamlet. Why, man, they did make love to this employ- 
ment; 
They are not near my conscience ; their defeat 
Doth by their own insinuation grow. 

'T is dangerous when the baser nature comes 60 

Between the pass and fell-incensed points 
Of mighty opposites. 

Horatio. Why, what a king is this ! 

Hamlet. Does it not, thinks 't thee, stand me now upon — 
He that hath kill'd my king, and whor'd my mother, 
Popp'd in between th' election and my hopes, 65 

Thrown out his angle for my proper life, 
And with such cozenage — is 't not perfect conscience 
To quit him with his arm? and is 't not to be damn'd, 

51. form Globe Delius | forme Fi 58. defeat Q2 I debate Ff. 

I the form Camb | the forme Q2. 59. Doth Ff | Does Q5 Globe 

54. sequent Q2 I sement Ff. Camb Delius | Dooes Q2. 

58. defeat: destruction. See note, II, ii, 556. 

60-62. When men of lower rank come between the thrusts and 
sword-points of great men engaged in fierce and mortal duel, or bent 
on fighting it out to the death. — opposites : opponents. 

63. thinks 't thee : seems it to thee. — stand me now upon : be in- 
cumbent upon me, be my bounden duty. 

68-70. quit: requite. So below, line 259. — is 't not . . . evil? Is 
it not a damnable sin to let this cancer of humanity proceed further 
in mischief and villainv ? 



208 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

To let this canker of our nature come 

In further evil? 70 

Horatio. It must be shortly known to him from England 
What is the issue of the business there. 

Hamlet. It will be short ; the interim is mine, 
And a man's life 's no more than to say ' One.' 
But I am very sorry, good Horatio, 75 

That to Laertes I forgot myself ; 
For by the image of my cause I see 
The portraiture of his. I '11 court his favours ; 
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me 
Into a tow' ring passion. 

Horatio. Peace ! who comes here? 80 

Enter young Osric 

Osric. Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark. 
Hamlet. I humbly thank you, sir. Dost know this water- 
fly? 

Horatio. No, my good lord. 84 

78. court Rowe | count Ff. 81. Scene IV Pope. 

73. Hamlet justly looks forward to the coming of that news as 
the crisis of his task; it will bring things to a head, and put the 
king in his power. He can then meet both him and the public with 
justifying proof of his guilt. 

77-78. Hamlet and Laertes have lost each his father, and both 
have perhaps lost equally in Ophelia ; so that their cause of sorrow 
is much the same. 

79. bravery: bravado, ostentation. Cf. Julius Ccesar, V, i, 10. 

82-83. water-fly. Cf. Troilus and Cressida, V, i, 38. "A water-fly 
skips up and down upon the surface of the water without any ap- 
parent purpose or reason, and is thence the proper emblem of a 
busy trifler." — Johnson. 



scene ii HAMLET 209 

Hamlet. Thy state is the more gracious, for 't is a vice 
to know him. He hath much land, and fertile ; let a beast 
be lord of beasts, and his crib shall stand at the king's mess. 
'T is a chough ; but, as I say, spacious in the possession of 
dirt. 

Osric. Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, I 
should impart a thing to you from his majesty. 91 

Hamlet. I will receive it, sir, with all diligence of spirit. 
Put your bonnet to his right use ; 't is for the head. 

Osric. I thank your lordship, it is very hot. 

Hamlet. No, believe me, 't is very cold ; the wind is 
northerly. 96 

Osric. It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed. 

Hamlet. But yet methinks it is very sultry and hot for 
my complexion. 

Osric. Exceedingly, my lord ; it is very sultry — as 'twere 
— I cannot tell how. But, my lord, his majesty bade me 
signify to you that he has laid a great wager on your head. 
Sir, this is the matter, — 

Hamlet. I beseech you, remember — 104 

[Hamlet moves him to put on his haf\ 

88. say I saw Fi. 98-99. But yet Q2 I Ff omit. — for 

90. lordship Q5 | Lordshippe Q2 I my complexion. Globe Delius Ff | or 

friendship Ff. my complection. Q2 I or my com- 

92. sir Q2 I Ff omit. plexion — Camb. 
94. it is Q2 I 't is Ff . 104. [Hamlet . . . hat] Johnson. 

88. chough. Either ' chattering jackdaw ' is meant, as in The 
Tempest, II, i, 266, or ' chuff,' in the sense of ' boar,' ' churl,' as in 
/ Henry IV, II, ii, 94. As ' chuff ' often connoted avarice and miserli- 
ness, the reference to ' possession of dirt ' is significant. Probably 
the word is used punningly in both senses. Certainly Osric's euphu- 
istic diction suggests the chattering jackdaw. 

104. Remember your courtesy, and be covered. 



IO THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Osric. Nay, in good faith; for mine ease, in good faith. 
Sir, here is newly come to court Laertes ; believe me, an 
absolute gentleman, full of most excellent differences, of 
very soft society and great showing : indeed, to speak feel- 
ingly of him, he is the card or calendar of gentry, for you 
shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman 
would see. m 

Hamlet. Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you ; 
though, I know, to divide him inventorially would dizzy the 
arithmetic of memory, and yet but yaw neither, in respect 
to his quick sail. But, in the verity of extolment, I take him 
to be a soul of great article, and his infusion of such dearth 
and rareness, as, to make true diction of him, his semblable 
is his mirror ; and who else would trace him, his umbrage, 
nothing more. 

Osric. Your lordship speaks most infallibly of him. 120 

105. in good faith Ff Delius | good 106-140. Sir, here . . . unfellow'd 

my lord Q2 Globe Camb. Q2 I Ff omit (see note). 

106-140. The Folios omit this passage with the exception of read- 
ing (see line 134) "Sir you are not ignorant of what excellence 
Laertes is at his weapon." 

107. excellent differences : distinctive excellences. 

110. continent : summary, sum and substance. Cf. IV, iv, 64. 

112. Hamlet outdoes Osric's hyperbolical euphuism, and is pur- 
posely obscure to bewilder the poor fop. — definement : definition, 
description. According to Murray, the word in this sense does not 
occur again in English literature until 1867. — perdition: loss. 

113-115. To discriminate the good parts of Laertes, and make a 
full catalogue of them, would confuse an arithmetician, and yet 
would be but a slow and staggering process, compared to his swift 
sailing. 'Yaw ' is a sailor's term, used of a ship that steers wildly or 
fails to answer her helm. 

117-119. The only resemblance to him is his mirror, and nothing 
but his shadow can keep up with him. 



SCENE II HAMLET 211 

Hamlet. The concernancy, sir ? why do we wrap the gen- 
tleman in our more rawer breath? 

Osric. Sir? 

Horatio. Is 't not possible to understand in another 
tongue? You will do't, sir, really. 125 

Hamlet. What imports the nomination of this gentleman ? 

Osric. Of Laertes? 

Horatio. His purse is empty already ; all 's golden words 
are spent. 

Hamlet. Of him, sir. 130 

Osric. I know you are not ignorant — 

Hamlet. I would you did, sir ; yet, in faith, if you did, 
it would not much approve me. Well, sir? 

Osric. You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes 
is— 135 

Hamlet. I dare not confess that, lest I should compare 
with him in excellence ; but to know a man well, were to 
know himself. 

Osric. I mean, sir, for his weapon ; but, in the imputa- 
tion laid on him by them, in his meed he 's unfellow'd. 140 

Hamlet. What 's his weapon ? 

121. The concernancy: how does this concern us ? A 'nonce-word.' 

124-125. Horatio means to imply that what with Osric's euphuism, 
and what with Hamlet's catching of Osric's style, they are not speak- 
ing in a tongue that can be understood ; and he hints that they try 
another tongue, that is, the common one. 

136-137. Hamlet will not claim to appreciate the excellence of 
Laertes, as this would imply equal excellence in himself, on the 
principle that a man cannot understand that which exceeds his own 
measure. He goes into these subtilties on purpose to bewilder Osric. 

139-140. imputation : reputation. Cf. Troilus and Cressida, I, iii, 
339. — meed: merit. Cf. j> Henry VI, IV, viii, 38. 



212 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Osric. Rapier and dagger. 

Hamlet. That 's two of his weapons ; but, well. 

Osric. The king, sir, hath wager'd with him six Barbary 
horses, against the which he has impon'd, as I take it, six 
French rapiers and poniards, with their assigns, as girdle, 
hanger, and so. Three of the carriages, in faith, are very 
dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most delicate 
carriages, and of very liberal conceit. 

Hamlet. What call you the carriages? 150 

Horatio. I knew you must be edified by the margent 
ere you had done. 

Osric. The carriages, sir, are the hangers. 

Hamlet. The phrase would be more germane to the 
matter, if we could carry cannon by our sides ; I would it 
might be hangers till then. But, on : six Barbary horses 
against six French swords, their assigns, and three liberal- 
conceited carriages ; that 's the French bet against the 
Danish. Why is this 'impon'd,' as you call it? 159 

Osric The king, sir, hath laid that in a dozen passes 
between yourself and him he shall not exceed you three 
hits ; he hath laid on twelve for nine ; and it would come 

144. king, sir | sir King Fi. — 155. cannon Ff Globe Delius i a 
hath wager'd Q2 I ha's wag'd Fi. cannon Q2 Camb. 

145. has impon'd | has impaund 158. bet Q2 I but Ff. 
Q2 I impon'd Ff. 160. sir Q2 I Ff omit. 

147. hanger Q2 I hangers Ff. — 162. laid on Q5 I layd on Q2 I one 

and Q2 I or Ff. Ff. — nine Q2 I mine Ff. — it Q2 I 

151-152. Ff omit. that Ff. 

145. impon'd: staked. Perhaps an Osrican form of 'impawn 'd.' 
151-152. must . . . done : would have to be instructed by a marginal 
commentary. The allusion is to the way in which old texts were 
glossed in the margin. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, I, iii, 86-87. 

162. twelve for nine. What this means exactly is uncertain. As 
Johnson said, " it is sufficient there was a wager." See note, line 253. 



scene ii HAMLET 213 

to immediate trial, if your lordship would vouchsafe the 
answer. 

Hamlet. How if I answer no? 165 

Osric. I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person 
in trial. 

Hamlet. Sir, I will walk here in the hall; if it please 
his majesty, 'tis the breathing time of day with me. Let 
the foils be brought, the gentleman willing, and the king 
hold his purpose, I will win for him if I can ; if not, I '11 
gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits. 

Osric. Shall I re-deliver you e'en so ? 

Hamlet. To this effect, sir; after what nourish your 
nature will. 175 

Osric I commend my duty to your lordship. 

Hamlet. Yours, yours. \_Exit Osric] He does well to 
commend it himself ; there are no tongues else for 's turn. 

Horatio. This lapwing runs away with the shell on his 
head. 180 

Hamlet. He did comply with his dug before he suck'd 
it. Thus has he, and many more of the same bevy that I 
know the drossy age dotes on, only got the tune of the time 

171. if Ff Delius | and Q2 | an 182. has Q2 I had Ff. — many Q2 

Capell Globe Camb. I mine Fi | nine F2F3F4. — bevy 

177. \Exit Osric] Capell. Caldecott Delius Furness | breede 

178. turn I turne Q2 I tongue Ff. Q2 I breed Globe Camb. 

169. breathing time of day: time for exercise. 

179-180. This comparison is found in other Elizabethan writers, 
and connotes precocity and forwardness. "The lapwing was also a 
symbol of insincerity, from its habit of alluring intruders from its 
nest by crying far away from it." — Clar. 

181. comply: compliment. See note, II, ii, 363. "The very suck- 
ing babes hath a kind of adulation towards their nurses for the 
dugge." — Fulwel, Arte of Flatterie, 1579. 



214 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

and outward habit of encounter ; a kind of yesty collection, 
which carries them through and through the most fond and 
winnowed opinions ; and do but blow them to their trial, 
the bubbles are out. 

Enter a Lord 

Lord. My lord, his majesty commended him to you by 
young Osric, who brings back to him, that you attend him 
in the hall. He sends to know if your pleasure hold to play 
with Laertes, or that you will take longer time. 191 

Hamlet. I am constant to my purposes ; they follow the 
king's pleasure : if his fitness speaks, mine is ready; now or 
whensoever, provided I be so able as now. 

Lord. The king and queen and all are coming down. 
Hamlet. In happy time. 196 

Lord. The queen desires you to use some gentle enter- 
tainment to Laertes before you fall to play. 

Hamlet. She well instructs me. \_Exit Lord] 

Horatio. You will lose this wager, my lord. 200 

Hamlet. I do not think so ; since he went into France, 

I have been in continual practice. I shall win at the odds. 

But thou wouldst not think how ill all 's here about my heart ; 

but it is no matter. 

185-186. fond and winnowed Ff | 188-199. Enter a Lord. Lord. 

prophane and trennowed Q2 I fann'd My lord . . . instructs me. [Exit 

and winnowed Hanmer (Warburton Lord] Ff omit, 
conj.). — trial | tryalls F1F2. 203. ill all 's Q2 I all Ff. 

184. yesty collection : frothy knowledge and frothy phrases. 

185-187. fond : foolish. " The metaphor is a mixed one . . . Osric, 
and others like him, are compared to the chaff which mounts higher 
than the sifted wheat, and to the bubbles which rise to the surface 
through the deeper water." — Clar. 



scene ii HAMLET 215 

Horatio. Nay, good my lord, — 205 

Hamlet. It is but foolery ; but it is such a kind of gain- 
giving as would perhaps trouble a woman. 

Horatio. If your mind dislike any thing, obey it. I will 
forestall their repair hither, and say you are not fit. 209 

Hamlet. Not a whit ; we defy augury. There 's a special 
providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 't is not to 
come ; if it be not to come, it will be now ; if it be not now, 
yet it will come ; the readiness is all. Since no man has 
aught of what he leaves, what is 't to leave betimes ? Let be. 

Enter King, Queen, Laertes, Lords, Osric, and other At- 
tendants with foils and gauntlets ; a table and flagons of 
wine on it 

King. Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me. 

[King puts Laertes's hand into Hamlet's] 

Hamlet. Give me your pardon, sir : I 've done you wrong ; 

208. obey it Q2 I obey Ff. times, let be Q2 I since no man ha's 

210. There 's a Ff Globe I there is ought of what he leaves. What is't 

a Delius I there is Q2 Camb. to leave betimes Fi. 

213-214. Since no man . . . Let be 215. Scene V Pope. — EnterKiNG 

Caldecott Camb Delius (Globe omits . . . wine on it | Ff (substantially). 

Let be) I since no man of ought he 216. [King . . . into Hamlet's] 

leaves, knowes what ist to leave be- Dyce | Cj2Ff omit. 

206-207. gain-giving: misgiving.] Cf. 'gainsay,' ' gainstrive.' 
210-211. augury: omens. — There 's ... sparrow. Cf. Matthew,*, 29. 
213-214. " If we possess nothing except our personality, what 
matters it to leave the adventitious things of life soon or late." — 
Dowden. Johnson's famous arrangement of the obviously corrupt 
text of Quartos and Folios is : " Since no man knows aught of what 
he leaves, what is 't to leave betimes." Johnson's own interpretation 
is : "Since no man knows aught of the state of life which he leaves, 
since he cannot judge what other years may produce, why should he 
be afraid of leaving life betimes." The textual variants will show that 
the reading in the text is partly from Quartos and partly from Folios. 



2l6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

But pardon 't, as you are a gentleman. 

This presence knows, 

And you must needs have heard, how I am punish'd 

With sore distraction. What I have done, 220 

That might your nature, honour, and exception 

Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness. 

Was 't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never Hamlet ! 

If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away, 

And when he 's not himself does wrong Laertes, 225 

Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it. 

Who does it, then ? His madness. If 't be so, 

Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd ; 

His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy. 

Sir, in this audience, 230 

Let my disclaiming from a purpos'd evil 

Free me so far in your most generous thoughts, 

That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house 

And hurt my brother. 

Laertes. I am satisfied in nature, 

Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most 235 

To my revenge ; but in my terms of honour 
I stand aloof, and will no reconcilement 
Till by some elder masters of known honour 
I have a voice and precedent of peace, 

220. sore Ff | a sore Q2. 233- mine Ff I my Q2. 

230. Omitted in Q2. 234- brother Q2 I Mother Ff. 

221. exception : disapproval. Cf . All 's Well that Ends Well, I, ii, 40. 

238-239. Till some experts in the code of honor give me the war- 
rant of custom and usage for standing on peaceful terms with you. 
— Laertes thinks, or pretends to think, that the laws of honor re- 
quire him to insist on a stern vindication of his manhood. Hamlet 






scene ii HAMLET 217 

To keep my name ungor'd. But till that time, 240 

I do receive your offer'd love like love, 
And will not wrong it. 

Hamlet. I do embrace it freely, 

And will this brother's wager frankly play. 
Give us the foils. Come on. 

Laertes. Come, one for me. 

Hamlet. I '11 be your foil, Laertes ; in mine ignorance 
Your skill shall, like a star i' th' darkest night, 246 

Stick fiery off indeed. 

Laertes. You mock me, sir. 

Hamlet. No, by this hand. 

King. Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin Hamlet, 
You know the wager? 

Hamlet. Very well, my lord ; 250 

Your grace hath laid the odds o' th' weaker side. 

240. ungor'd Q2 | ungorg'd Ff. F3F4 Rowe. 

242. I do Ff I I Q 2 . 251. hath Ff Globe Delius | has 

246. darkest Q2F1 1 brightest F2 Q2 Camb. — 0' th' F-t | a' th J Fi. 

has before spoken of Laertes as "a very noble youth." In this part 
of the scene he has his faculties keenly on the alert against Claudius ; 
but it were a sin in him even to suspect Laertes of anything so un- 
fathomably base as the treachery now on foot. 

245-247. Hamlet plays on the word 'foil,' which, from being applied 
to the gold leaf (Lat. foliuni) used to set off a jewel, comes to mean 
that which sets off anything and makes it show to advantage, as a 
dark night sets off a star : 

Fair as a star, when only one 
Is shining in the sky. 

251. The ' odds ' here referred to is probably the value of the 
stakes, the king having wagered six Barbary horses against a few 
rapiers, poniards, etc. Dowden takes ' odds ' as the " three points 
given to Hamlet, who is supposed to be the less skilled." 



218 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

King. I do not fear it ; I have seen you both ; 
But since he is better'd, we have therefore odds. 

Laertes. This is too heavy, let me see another. 

Hamlet. This likes me well. These foils have all a 
length? [They prepare to play\ 

Osric. Ay, my good lord. 256 

King. Set me the stoups of wine upon that table. 
If Hamlet give the first or second hit, 
Or quit in answer of the third exchange, 
Let all the battlements their ordnance fire. 260 

The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath ; 
And in the cup an union shall he throw, 
Richer than that which four successive kings 
In Denmark's crown have worn. Give me the cups ; 
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak, 265, 

The trumpet to the cannoneer without, 
The cannons to the heavens, the heaven to earth, 
' Now the king drinks to Hamlet ! ' Come, begin ; 
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye. 

Hamlet. Come on, sir. 

260. ordnance I ordinance Fi. 264. Two lines in Ff. 

262. union Ff | Vnice Q2 1 Onyx Q6. 265. trumpet Q2 I trumpets Ff. 

253. Here the reference is possibly to the three ' odd ' hits in 
Hamlet's favor, the numbers being nine and twelve, line 162. The 
king affects to regard this as a fair offset for Laertes's improved 
skill in the handling of his weapon. But this passage and lines 162, 
251 offer a variety of conflicting interpretations. See Furness. 

255. This likes me well. See note, II, ii, 80. 

262. union : fine pearl. " Also a f aire, greate orient pearle, called 
an vnion," — Florio, Italian Dictionary. A rich gem put into a cup of 
wine was meant as a gift to the drinker of the wine. Of course the 
' union ' in this case was the poison. 



scene II HAMLET 219 

Laertes. Come, my lord. \They play\ 

Hamlet. One. 

Laertes. No. 

Hamlet. Judgment. 

Osric. A hit, a very palpable hit. 

Laertes. Well; again. 271 

King. Stay ; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine ; 
Here 's to thy health. 

[Trumpets sound, and cannon shot off within'] 
Give him the cup. 

Hamlet. I '11 play this bout first ; set it by awhile. 
Come. [They play~\ Another hit; what say you? 275 

Laertes. A touch, a touch, I do confess. 

King. Our son shall win. 

Queen. He 's fat and scant of breath. 

Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows ; 
The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. 

Hamlet. Good madam ! 

King. Gertrude, do not drink. 280 

Queen. I will, my lord ; I pray you, pardon me. 

King. [Aside] It is the poison'd cup ; it is too late. 

270. Come, my lord Q2 I Come on 274. set it Q2 I set Ff. 

sir Ff Rowe Caldecott Staunton. 278. Here . . . napkin Q2 I Heere 's 

273. [Trumpets sound ... off with- a napkin Fi I Here 's a napkin F2 

in] Malone I Trumpets sound and F3F4. 

shot goes off Fi (after cup). 282, 286. [Aside] Rowe | Ff omit. 

277. There is a tradition that ' fat ' was inserted here to suit the 
physique of Richard Burbage (Burbadge), said to have been the 
original actor of the part of Hamlet. Probably the word simply 
means ' out of training.' ■ Hot,' « faint,' ' fey ' (' doomed to die ') have 
been suggested as substitutes. 

278. napkin : handkerchief. Cf. Othello, III, iii, 290. 
280. Good madam ! An acknowledgment of the courtesy. 



220 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Hamlet. I dare not drink yet, madam ; by and by. 

Queen. Come, let me wipe thy face. 

Laertes. My lord, I '11 hit him now. 

King. I do not think 't. 285 

Laertes. \_Aside~\ And yet 'tis almost 'gainst my con- 
science. 

Hamlet. Come, for the third, Laertes : you but dally ; 
I pray you, pass with your best violence ; 
I am afeard you make a wanton of me. 

Laertes. Say you so? come on. \They play\ 

Osric. Nothing, neither way. 291 

Laertes. Have at you now ! 

[Laertes wounds Hamlet ; then, in scuffling, they 
change rapiers, and Hamlet wounds Laertes] 

King. . Part them ; they are incens'd. 

292. [Laertes . . . Rowe | In scuffling they change Rapiers Ff. 

289. To ' make a wanton ' of a man, as the phrase is here used, is 
to 'treat him as a child,' to avoid playing your best with him, or 
rather to play the game into his hands. — This is a quiet, but very 
significant stroke of delineation. Laertes is not playing his best, and 
it is the conscience of what is at the point of his foil that keeps him 
from doing so ; and the effects are perceptible to Hamlet, though he 
dreams not of the reason. 

292. Laertes wounds . . . wounds Laertes. Up to this moment 
Hamlet has not put forth his strength, he has been merely playing; 
now, on being unexpectedly wounded, he is instantly stung into 
fiery action. — The exchanging of foils took place well in Edwin 
Booth's ordering of the matter on the stage. There Hamlet, in a 
rapture of energy and adroitness, struck the foil out of Laertes's 
hand, picked it up, and threw down his own, which, again, was 
presently picked up by Laertes. In Salvini's arrangement, only 
Laertes dropped his foil ; Hamlet put his foot upon it, and offered 
Laertes his own. 






scene II HAMLET 221 

Hamlet. Nay, come, again. [Queen falls~\ 

Osric. Look to the queen there, ho ! 

Horatio. They bleed on both sides. How is 't, rny lord ? 

Osric. How is 't, Laertes? 295 

Laertes. Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, 
Osric ; 
I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery. 

Hamlet. How does the queen ? 

King. She swounds to see them bleed. 

Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink — O my dear 
Hamlet — 
The drink, the drink ! I am poison'd. [Dies] 

Hamlet. O villainy ! Ho ! let the door be lock'd ! 301 
Treachery ! seek it out. [Laertes falls'] 

Laertes. It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain ; 
No medicine in the world can do thee good ; 
In thee there is not half an hour of life : 305 

The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, 
Unbated and envenom'd. The foul practice 
Hath turn'd itself on me. Lo, here I lie, 
Never to rise again. Thy mother 's poison'd ! 
I can no more. The king, the king 's to blame. 310 

Hamlet. The point envenom'd too ! 
Then, venom, to thy work ! [Stabs King] 

293. [Queen falls] Capell. 3°°- [Dies] Cj2Ff omit. 

296. mine own Q2 I mine Fi | my 302. [Laertes falls] Capell. 

F2F3F4 Rowe I my own Pope. 312. [Stabs King] Hurts the 

298. swounds F3F4 Globe Camb | King Ff | Q2 omits, 
sounds Q2F1F2 I swoonds Delius. 

296. The woodcock was often used as a decoy. Cf. I, iii, 115. 
307. Unbated: unblunted. Cf. IV, vii, 137. — practice: plot. 
312. to thy work. Theobald read ' do thy work.' 



222 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

All. Treason ! treason ! 

King. 0, yet defend me, friends ! I am but hurt. 

Hamlet. Here, thou incestuous, murd'rous, damned 
Dane, 315 

Drink off this potion ! Is thy union here? 
Follow my mother ! [King dies] 

Laertes. He is justly serv'd ; 

It is a poison temper'd by himself. 
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet; 
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee, 320 

Nor thine on me ! \_Dies\ 

Hamlet. Heaven make thee free of it ! I follow thee. 
I am dead, Horatio. Wretched queen, adieu ! 
You that look pale and tremble at this chance, 
That are but mutes or audience to this act, 325 

Had I but time — as this fell sergeant, death, 
Is strict in his arrest — O, I could tell you — 
But let it be. Horatio, I am dead ; 
Thou liv'st : report me and my cause aright 
To the unsatisfied. 

Horatio. Never believe it ; 330 

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane : 
Here 's yet some liquor left. 

318. temper'd | temp'red Ff. Q2 I causes right Ff. 

329. cause aright Q4I cause a right 331. antique | anticke Q2 I antike Fi. 

318. temper'd: mixed. Cf. Love's Labour 's Lost, IV, iii, 347. 

326. fell sergeant, death. So in Sylvester, Translation of DuBartas: 
"And Death, drad Serjant of th' eternall Iudge." 

331. an antique Roman. Brutus, Cassius, and Antony, in Shake- 
speare's great Roman plays, commit suicide. In Julius Ccesar, V, 
iii, 89, Titinius, as he kills himself, says, " This is a Roman's part." 
Q,i. Julius Ccesar, V, i, 101-103; Macbeth, V, viii, I. 






scene ii HAMLET 223 

Hamlet. As thou 'rt a man, 

Give me the cup. Let go ; by heaven, I '11 have 't. 

good Horatio ! what a wounded name, 

Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me ! 335 
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, 
Absent thee from felicity awhile, 
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, 
To tell my story. \_March afar off, and shot within~\ 

What warlike noise is this? 

Osric. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Po- 
land, 340 
To th' ambassadors of England gives 
This warlike volley. 

Hamlet. O, I die, Horatio ; 

The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit. 

1 cannot live to hear the news from England ; 

But I do prophesy th' election lights 345 

On Fortinbras ; he has my dying voice ; 
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less, 
Which have solicited — the rest is silence. \_Dies~\ 

Horatio. Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet 
prince, 
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest ! [March within] 
Why does the drum come hither? 351 

334. good Ff I god Q2 I God Q4 I 340. Scene VI Pope. — Enter Os- 

God ! Capell Furness. ricke Q2F1. 

339. [March . . . shot within] 348. silence | silence. O, 0,0,0 Fi. 

Steevens | March . . . shout within Ff . 349. cracks | cracke Fi. 

343. o'er-crows. "As a victorious cock crows over his defeated 
antagonist." — Jennens. The word is borrowed from the cockpit. 

347. occurrents : events. — more and less : greater and smaller. 

348. solicited : prompted (my action). Cf . Richard II, I, ii, 2. 



224 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Enter Fortinbras, and the English Ambassadors, with 
drums, colours, and Attendants 

Fortinbras. Where is this sight? 

Horatio. What is it ye would see ? 

If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search. 

Fortinbras. This quarry cries on havoc. O proud death, 
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell, 355 

That thou so many princes at a shot 
So bloodily hast struck? 

1 Ambassador. The sight is dismal ; 

And our affairs from England come too late. 
The ears are senseless that should give us hearing, 
To tell him his commandment is fulfill'd, 360 

That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. 
Where should we have our thanks? 

Horatio. Not from his mouth, 

Had it th' ability of life to thank you. 
He never gave commandment for their death. 
But since, so jump upon this bloody question, 365 

You from the Polack wars, and you from England, 
Are here arriv'd, give order that these bodies 
High on a stage be placed to the view ; 

352. this Q2F1F2 I the F3F4.— 354- This Q2 I His Ff. 

ye Ff Globe Delius | you Q2 Camb. 356. shot Q2 I shoote Fi. 

354. quarry : heap of slain. Cf. Macbeth, IV, iii, 206. — cries on : 
exclaims against. — havoc: indiscriminate slaughter. As 'havoc' was 
often a word of signal calling for no quarter in battle (cf. Julius 
Ccesar, III, i, 273), some interpret this passage, This pile of corpses 
urges to ruthless slaughter. 

355. toward: in preparation. — eternal. See note, I, v, 21. 
362. his mouth : the king's mouth. 

365. jump upon : immediately following. Cf . I, i, 65. 



scene ii HAMLET 225 

And let me speak to th' yet unknowing world 

How these things came about. So shall you hear 370 

Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, 

Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters, 

Of deaths put on by cunning and forc'd cause ; 

And, in this upshot, purposes mistook 

Fall'n on the inventors' heads : all this can I 375 

Truly deliver. 

Fortinbras. Let us haste to hear it, 
And call the noblest to the audience. 
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune. 
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom, 
Which now to claim, my vantage doth invite me. 380 

Horatio. Of that I shall have also cause to speak, 
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more ; 
But let this same be presently perform'd, 
Even while men's minds are wild, lest more mischance, 
On plots and errors, happen. 

Fortinbras. Let four captains 385 

373. forc'd Ff I for no Q2. 380. now Q2 I are Ff. 

379. rights Q2 I Rites Ff. 381. also Q2 I alwayes Ff. 

373. put on: instigated. In line 387, 'put to the proof.' A third 
meaning is in I, iii, 94. — forc'd: not properly justified. 

374. In archery, the 'upshot ' was the final, the deciding, shot. 
379. of memory : which are (or * must be ') remembered. 

382. draw on more: "be seconded by others." — Theobald. The 
reference is to Hamlet's dying words, lines 345-346. 

385-393. Compare the closing speeches in Julius C&sar and King 
Lear with these words of Fortinbras. These great tragedies do 
not end melodramatically with the curtain rung down immediately 
on the death of the protagonist. As in The Ancient Mariner, after 
the stress and tension of the catastrophe, relief comes in the things 
of the day's business. While this condition may result to a certain 



226 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage ; 

For he was likely, had he been put on, 

To have prov'd most royally ; and, for his passage, 

The soldiers' music and the rites of war 

Speak loudly for him. 390 

Take up the bodies. Such a sight as this 

Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss. 

Go, bid the soldiers shoot. 

\_A dead march. Exeunt, bearing off the dead bodies ; 
after which a peal of ordnance is shot off~\ 

391. bodies Q2 I body Ff Rowe | Exeunt Q2 1 Exeunt Marching : after 
Knight Collier Grant White. the which, a Peale of Ordenance are 

393. [A dead . . . shot off~\ Capell shot off Fi. 

extent from Elizabethan stage exigencies, it is true to life and to 
that highest art which interprets life. 

388. passage: departure, death. As in III, iii, 86. Cf. 'passing-bell.' 






INDEX 



This Index includes the most important words and phrases explained in 
the notes. The figures in heavy-faced type refer to the pages ; those in plain 
type, to the lines containing the word or phrase explained. 



a (he): 190 31. 
abominably: 115 32. 
about: 101 575. 
abridgments: 91 410. 
abstracts . . . time : 

97 511. 
abuse (noun): 179 49. 
abuses: 101 590. 
Act I, Scene III: 33 l. 
Act I, Scene IV : 42 l. 
Act II, Scene II, 330- 

354: 85 330. 
Act IH, Scene II: 11 3 1. 
Act IV, Scene I: 152 1. 
Act IV, Scene V : Gen- 
tleman : 163 2. 
Act V, Scene VI, 106- 

140: 210 106. 
action: 29 305. 
Adam's profession: 

190 29. 
addition: 43 20, 63 47. 
admiration: 29 192, 

130 301. 
admit no discourse to : 

109 108. 
adulterate : 5 1 42. 
.ffineas . . . Dido : 93 434. 
aerie : 86 332. 
affectation: 93 432. 
affront : 103 31. 
aim: 164 9. 
Alexandrine verse : 9 

86. 
amiss (noun) : 164 18. 



an (on): 49 19, 146 120. 

anchor's cheer: 124 
200. 

and if : 59 176. 

angry parle : 7 62. 

antic: 59 172. 

antique Roman : 222 
331. 

approve : 5 29. 

appurtenance: 88 362. 

are you fair (Cole- 
ridge's comment): 
109 105. 

argal: 188 12. 

argument : 87 347. 

arm'd: 31 226. 

arms . . . sea of trou- 
bles : 105 59. 

arras: 76 163. 

arrows, too lightly tim- 
ber'd: 178 21-22. 

artery : 47 82. 

as (as if): 147 133. 

as (as soon as) : 33 2. 

as-es : 206 43. 

assay: 137 69. 

assay of arms: 71 71. 

assays of bias : 64 64. 

assurance: 194 ill. 

assure you : 70 43. 

at point : 29 200. 

attribute : 43 22. 

augury: 215 210. 

auspicious . . . drop- 
ping: 16 11. 

227 



avouch : 7 57. 
bad dreams : 80 252. 
bak'd meats : 28 180. 
bare: 107 76. 
bark'd: 52 71. 
baseness to write fair : 

205 34. 
bated: 205 23. 
batten : 143 67. 
beauties . . . virtues : 

104 39-40. 
beaver: 31 229. 
bedded: 146 119. 
beetles o'er his : 47 71. 
being kept close, etc.: 

67 117-118. 
bent : 69 30. 
Bernardo (spelling): 2, 

note 3. 
beteem: 25 141. 
bilboes : 204 6. 
bisson: 96 493. 
blank: 154 42. 
blank verse shall halt 

for 't : 85 319-320. 
blanks (blanches): 124 

201. 
blast: 185 153. 
blench: 101 584. 
bloat: 150 180. 
blood: 52 65. 
blood (natural inv 

pulse): 117 64. 
board: 77 170. 
bodkin: 107 76. 



228 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 



body is with the king : 

156 26-27. 
bodykins : 97 516. 
bonds: 41 130. 
bonny sweet Robin : 

173 167. 
bore: 176 23. 
borne in hand : 71 67. 
bourn : 107 79. 
brainish : 153 11. 
bravery : 208 79. 
braz'd: 141 37. 
break (subjunctive): 

26 159. 
breathe : 63 31. 
breathing time: 213 

169. 
bringing home: 199 

222. 
brokers: 41 127. 
brooch: 182 92. 
bruit again : 23 127. 
bugs : 205 22. 
bulk : 66 94. 
buttons : 35 40. 
buz, buz : 89 384. 
by (concerning) : 77 

187. 
by and by: 133 356. 
by 'r lady : 92 414-415. 
Cain's jawbone: 192 

74. 
can: 181 83. 
candied : 1 1 7 55. 
canker: 35 39. 
canon 'gainst self- 
slaughter: 24 132. 
canoniz'd: 45 47. 
capable: 146 125. 
cap-a-pe : 29 200. 
card: 195 131. 
carriage of the article 

design'd : 9 94. 
carry it away : 87 352. 
cart: 122 136. 
cataplasm: 184 142. 



cautel : 34 15. 
caviare to the general : 

92 425-426. 
cease of majesty : 134 

15. 
censure: 37 69. 
centre: 76 159. 
cerements : 45 48. 
chameleon's dish : 118 

88. 
chapless: 192 85. 
character: 37 59. 
character (noun) : 179 

50. 
charge : 206 43. 
chariest: 35 36. 
checking at: 180 61. 
choice be circum- 

scrib'd, etc.: 35 
.22-24. 
chopine : 92 416. 
chorus: 126 225. 
chough : 209 88. 
circumstance: 56 127, 

138 83. 
clepe: 43 19. 
climatures: 12 125. 
closely: 103 29. 
closes consequence : 

63 45. 
cockle hat : 1 65 25. 
coil: 106 67. 
coinage of your brain : 

147 135. 
coldly set: 159 61. 
colleagued: 17 21. 
collection: 164 9. 
columbines: 173 161. 
come tardy off : 114 23. 
comma: 206 42. 
comment of thy soul: 

117 74. 
commerce: 109 109. 
complexion . . . reason : 

44 27-28. 
comply: 88363,213181. 



comrade (accent): 3765. 
conceit : 99 542, 1 4 6 1 12. 
concernancy : 211 121. 
conclusions: 150 193. 
confederate season,etc: 

126 233. 
confess thyself: ISO 

36-37. 
confine : 1 4 155. 
conjuring : 1 5 9 63. 
conscience: 107 83. 
continent: 163 64, 

210 110. 
contraction: 142 46. 
conversation cop'd 

withal: 116 50. 
convert his gyves to 

graces: 178 21. 
convoy is assistant : 

33 s. 
coted : 84 312. 
count: 177 17. 
countenance: 155 15, 

189 26. 
counter : 1 69 92. 
counterfeit : 1 42 54. 
courtier's, soldier's, 

scholar's: 111 151. 
cousin: 19 64. 
crants : 199 221. 
crescent: 34 n. 
cried in the top of : 93 

427. 
crimes : 138 81. 
croaking raven, etc. : 

126 230-231. 
cross it: 12 127. 
crowner's quest law: 

189 21. 
cry (company): 127 

254. 
cry out on the top of 

question : 86 233. 
cue : 99 546. 
curb: 148 153. 
currents : 137 57. 



INDEX 



229 



custom . . . angel : 148 
159-160. 

daisy: 173 164. 

Damon: 128 257. 

dear a : 82 270. 

dearest foe : 28 182. 

dearly: 158 40. 

defeat: 99 556,207 58. 

defeated: 16 10. 

defence : 1 82 96. 

definement: 210 112. 

deliberate pause: 1579. 

demanded of: 155 12. 

Denmark (king of) : 
20 69. 

deprive: 47 73. 

dexterity : 26 157. 

didest: 179 56. 

Dido: 93 434. 

difference: 173 163-164. 

dilated : 1 8 38. 

disappointed: 53 77. 

disasters : 11 118. 

disclose: 112 166. 

disclos'd : 35 40. 

discourse : 162 36. 

discourse of reason : 
25 150. 

discovery: 83 290. 

disjoint: 17 20. 

dispriz'd: 106 72. 

distill'd: 29 204. 

distracted : 156 4. 

distrust: 122 146. 

document: 173 159. 

doomsday : 1 1 120. 

doubt: 33 255, 70 56, 
73 118-121. 

douts: 187 191. 

down-gyved: 66 79. 

dram of eale . . . scan- 
dal : 44 36-38. 

Dramatis Personae : 2, 
note 1. 

draw on more : 225 382. 

dread my lord : 1 8 50. 



dreadfully attended : 

82 265. 
drift . . . performance : 

185 150. 
drift of circumstance : 

102 1. 
drift of question . . . 

touch it: 61 10-12. 
dull thy palm, etc.: 37 

64-65. 
dumb-show: 120 119. 
dye : 41 128. 
eager : 42 2, 52 69. 
ecstasy: 66 101, 143 

74, 147 136. 
effects : 147 127. 
eisel: 201 265. 
Elsinore : 2, note 5. 
enactures: 123 178. 
encumber'd thus: 59 

174. 
engag'd: 137 69. 
enginer: 151 204. 
Enter Ghost: 145 101. 
entreatment: 40 122. 
enviously: 164 6. 
ere: 25 147. 
erring: 13 154. 
escoted : 86 339. 
espials: 103 32. 
eternal : 224 355. 
eternal blazon: 49 21. 
even: 30 218. 
even Christian : 1 89 27. 
event: 162 41. 
excellent differences : 

210 ]07. 
exception: 216 221. 
exclaim: 87 343. 
excrements: 146 119. 
exercise : 104 45. 
expostulate : 72 86. 
express : 83 300. 
extent: 88 364. 
extravagant: 13 154. 
eyases : 86 332. 



fair: 109 105. 
familiar: 37 61. 
fardels: 107 76. 
fare you well, my dove: 

172 149. 
farm: 161 20. 
fashion: 33 6. 
fast in fires : 49 11. 
fat : 219 277. 
fat weed: 50 32. 
fay: 81 261. 
fennel: 173 161. 
fetch of warrant: 63 

38. 
fierce: 11 121. 
fine : 93 433. 
fine (noun): 193 100. 
fishmonger : 77 174. 
flaming youth . . . fire : 

144 84-85. 
flaw: 198 205. 
flush: 138 81. 
flushing: 26 155. 
foil: 217 245. 
fond: 54 99, 214 185. 
for and: 193 90. 
for the nonce : 185 159. 
forc'd : 225 373. 
fordo: 198 210. 
fordoes: 67 102. 
forest of feathers : 127 

252. 
forestalled: 136 49. 
forgery : 181 88. 
forget to pay: 123 173- 

174. 
free : 99 549. 
French falconers : 92 

419. 
fret: 132 344. 
fretted : 83 296. 
friending : 60 186. 
front: 142 56. 
full of bread: 138 80. 
function : 98 541. 
fust: 162 39. 



230 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 



gain-giving: 215 206- 

207. 
gait: 17 31. 
galled : 26 155. 
garb: 88 363. 
general gender: 178 

18. 
generous chief in that : 

38 74. 
gentry : 69 22. 
Gertrude : 2, note 4. 
gins : 5 3 90. 
give them seals: 134 

372. 
give you : 4 16. 
gives me the lie, etc.: 

99 559-560. 
giving out : 60 178. 
glad to see you well : 

26 160. 
glass of fashion: 111 

153. 
globe: 54 97. 
go hard: 151 205. 
go to : 40 112. 
God : 65 75. 
God b' wi' you : 65 68. 
God'ild: 166 40. 
golden couplets : 202 

276. 
good even : 27 167. 
good kissing carrion : 

77 182. 
good madam: 219 280. 
good now : 8 70. 
gracious: 14 164, 104 

43. 
grained: 144 90. 
graves stood tenant- 
less, etc.: 11 115— 

120. 
grossly: 138 80. 
groundlings: 114 10. 
gules : 94 445. 
gulf: 135 16. 
guts: 151 210. 



habit: 147 133. 
handsaw : 88 370. 
handsome : 93 433. 
happily : 89 375. 
happily foreknowing : 

12 134. 
happiness: 78 208. 
harbinger: 11 122. 
harrows : 6 44. 
hatchment: 175 194. 
haunt: 153 18. 
have me : 65 67. 
havoc : 224 354. 
he closes thus : 64 55. 
head: 168 83. 
health: 181 80. 
heaven (plural): 149 

173. 
heaven and hell: 100 

571. 
hebenon: 52 62. 
Hecate : 126 235. 
hectic : 159 65. 
hendiadys : 8 68, 9 87. 
hent: 138 88. 
Hercules : 87 353. 
Herod: 114 13. 
hie et ubique: 58 156. 
hide fox, etc. : 156 29- 

30. 
hillo, ho, ho : 56 116. 
his (its): 5 37, 37 60, 

114 22. 
his birth: 34 18. 
hobby-horse: 120 118. 
hoist: 151 205. 
holds quantity: 122 

148. 
honest: 109 103. 
honest Ghost: 57 138. 
hoodman-blind : 144 77. 
hoops : 37 63. 
how should . . . other- 
wise : 1 80 57. 
hugger-mugger: 167 

66. 



humorous : 84 317. 
husbandry: 38 77. 
Hyperion: 24 140. 
Hyperion to a satyr 

(scansion) : 24 140, 

142 56. 
Hyrcanian beast : 94 

438. 
I saw him once : 28 186. 
idle: 118 85. 
if my duty, etc.: 131 

322-323. 
illo, ho, ho: 56 115. 
immediate . . . throne : 

22 109. 
impon'd : 212 145. 
important: 146 106, 
importing : 17 23. 
impostume : 161 27. 
impress : 8 75. 
imputation: 211 139- 

140. 
in (in the thought of) : 

203 283. 
in few: 41 126. 
in his eye : 160 6. 
in what particular 

thought, etc. : 7 67- 

69. 
in youth, when I, etc. : 

191 59. 
incapable: 186 178. 
incorps'd: 181 86. 
incorrect: 21 95. 
index: 142 52. 
indifferent : 79 226, 

110 122. 
individable : 89 390. 
indued: 186 179. 
infinitive used gerun- 

dively: 155 12. 
ingenious sense : 200 

237. 
inheritor: 194 105. 
inhibition: 85 325. 
inoculate : 109 1 18. 



INDEX 



231 



inquire : 61 4. 
instance: 172 144. 
instances: 123 163. 
instant : 52 71. 
investments : 41 128. 
inward service . . . 

withal: 34 13-14. 
it (its): 30 216,198 210. 
it is very cold : 42 1. 
it. Nay: 48 91. 
its : 5 37. 
jealousy : 164 19. 
jelly: 29 205. 
John-a-dreams : 99 553. 
jointress : 1 6 9. 
jump : 7 65, 224 365. 
keep (live): 61 8. 
kibe: 195 134. 
kill'd i' th' Capitol : 

119 97-98. 
kin . . . kind: 19 65. 
kindless: 100 567. 
king . . . Dane : 45 45. 
knavish speech sleeps, 

etc.: 156 22-23. 
Laertes wounds, etc.: 

220 292. 
Lamond: 182 91. 
laps'd in time and pas- 

§ion: 145 105. 
lapwing: 213 179. 
larded: 166 36. 
law and heraldry : 9 87. 
law of writ and the 

liberty : 90 391-392. 
lawless : 10 98. 
lay home: 139 l. 
leave: 122 155. 
leave (part with) : 144 

91. 
lenten: 84 311. 
let four captains, etc. : 

225 385-393. 
let the gall'd jade 

wince : 125 222-223. 
Lethe wharf : 50 33. 



lets (hinders) : 48 85. 
level: 154 42. 
liberal: 186 170. 
lies: 137 61. 
like not . . . judgment, 

etc.: 157 5-7. 
likes (pleases) : 72 80, 

218 255. 
limed: 137 68. 
list (bounds) : 168 81. 
living monument : 203 

286. 
loggats: 192 88. 
long live the king : 3 3. 
lose your voice : 1 8 45. 
lungs : 84 318. 
luxury: 53 83. 
machine: 74 124. 
main : 70 56. 
mainly: 177 9. 
make (do): 27 164, 82 

265. 
makes mouths at : 1 62 

50. 
man: 28 187. 
mar gent: 212 151. 
marry : 39 90. 
mart : 8 74. 
master: 149 167. 
mazzard: 192 85. 
me (emphatic) : 3 2. 
me (for me): 61 7. 
means : 86 342. 
meed: 211 140. 
mere : 202 273. 
merely : 24 137. 
miching mallecho : 121 

120. 
milch : 97 504. 
mildew'd ear: 143 64. 
mineral : 1 5 3 26. 
mobled: 96 489. 
moiety competent : 9 90. 
moist star : 11 118. 
mole of nature : 43 24. 
moment: 41 133. 



mope : 144 81. 

more and less : 223 347. 

more consider'd time : 

72 81. 
morn . . . hill: 15 156- 

157. 
motion: 143 72. 
mountebank : 184 140. 
mouse : 150 181. 
mows : 87 356. 
murder sanctuarize : 

183 126. 
murdering piece : 168 

77. 
mutine: 144 83. 
mutines : 204 6. 
my prophetic soul: 51 

40. 
napkin: 219 278. 
native : 1 8 47. 
naught (bad) : 121 128. 
Nemean: 47 83. 
Nero: 133 367. 
niggard . . . most free : 

102 13-14. 
nighted : 20 68. 
nill : 1 89 16. 
Niobe: 25 149. 
no longer . . . can sing : 

86 340. 
no traveller returns : 

107 80. 
nobility: 22 110. 
north-north-west : 88 

369. 
noyance : 134 13. 
obsequious : 21 92. 
observe . . . yourself: 

65 70. 
occurrents : 223 347. 
odds: 217 251,218 253. 
o'ercrows : 223 343. 
o'ermaster it, etc.: 57 

140. 
o'er-raught: 103 17. 
o'erreaches: 192 76. 



232 



THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 



o'ertook in 's rouse : 
64 58. 

of (on): 82 286. 

of (over) : 82 286. 

of memory : 225 379. 

of reason: 18 44. 

of vantage: 135 33. 

of wisdom and of reach: 
64 63. 

offence: 136 36. 

offendendo: 188 9. 

omen: 11 123. 

on mount of all the age: 
178 28. 

one speech : 118 76. 

open to inconstancy : 
62 30. 

operant: 122 155. 

Ophelia's death (Cole- 
ridge's comment) : 
186 165. 

opposite: 124 201. 

opposites : 207 62. 

oppressor's wrong,etc: 

106 70-74. 

or ere : 25 147. 
Orchard : 50 35. 
ostentation: 175 195. 
out of haunt: 153 18. 
outstretch'd, etc. : 81 

259-267. 
overpeering : 168 81. 
owl was a baker's 

daughter: 166 40-41. 
packing: 151 209. 
paddock: 150 188. 
pair of indentures : 

194 104. 
pajock: 128 260. 
pall : 204 9. 
panders will : 144 88. 
pansies: 173 157. 
pardon : 1 9 56. 
particular: 43 23. 
particular act and 

place : 35 26. 



passage: 226 388. 
passages of proof : 1 83 

ill. 
passion: 97 505, 174 

168. 
peace-parted: 199 226. 
peak: 99 552. 
pelican : 171 126. 
Pelion : 200 242. 
perdition: 210 112. 
perdy : 129 270. 
periwig-pated : 113 8. 
perpend: 73 105. 
persever: 21 92. 
petar: 151 204. 
physic: 139 96. 
picked: 195 133. 
pickers and stealers : 

130 310. 
picture: 142 53. 
pigeon-liver' d : 1 00 563. 
pioner : 59 163. 
pith: 108 86. 
plausive : 44 30. 
Plautus : 90 391. 
play'd the desk, etc.: 

74 136. 
plurisy: 183 116. 
ply his music : 65 72. 
Polacks: 7 63. 
pole : 5 36. 
politician : 1 92 76. 
porpentine : 49 20. 
posset: 52 68. 
posy: 121 133. 
practice: 180 66,221 

307. 
precurse: 11 121. 
pregnant: 78 208, 117 

56. 
present push : 203 284. 
presently: 77 170. 
presentment: 142 54. 
pressure : 114 22. 
pressures: 54 100. 
prevent: 83 290. 



prick'd on . . . pride: 

8 83. 
primal eldest curse: 

136 37. 
primrose path : 36 50. 
primy : 33 7. 
probation: 14 156. 
process : 50 37. 
progress : 158 31. 
proof: 141 38, 185 153. 
proof eterne : 95 478. 
proper to our age, etc. : 

67 113-116. 
property: 99 555. 
Provincial: 127 253. 
purgation : 129 283. 
pursy: 148 151. 
put on : 39 94, 62 19, 

184 130, 225 373. 
quaintly: 63 31. 
quality : 86 339. 
quarry : 224 354. 
question : 87 348. 
questionable : 45 43. 
quick : 202 268. 
quiddits: 193 94. 
quietus : 107 75. 
quillets: 193 94. 
quintessence : 83 303. 
quit: 207 68. 
quoted: 67 ill. 
rack: 95 472. 
raz'd: 127 254. 
recks . . . rede: 36 51. 
recorder: 128 267-268. 
records (accent): 54 99. 
recover the wind : 131 

320. 
rede : 36 51. 
reechy : 150 182. ) 
reels : 43 9. 
re-enter Gentleman 

with Ophelia: 164 

21. 
regards . . . allowance : 

72 79. 



INDEX 



233 



region: 95 475. 

region kites : 1 00 565. 

relative: 101 591. 

remember (your cour- 
tesy): 209 104. 

removed : 46 61. 

rendezvous : 160 4. 

replication : 155 12. 

residence : 85 323. 

resolve: 24 130. 

respect: 106 68. 

respects of thrift : 123 
164. 

rests (remains): 137 
64. 

retrograde: 23 114. 

revenue : 116 53. 

re-word: 147 141. 

rheum: 96 493. 

rivals: 4 13. 

robustious : 113 8. 

romage: 10 107. 

rood: 140 14. 

rosemary: 172 154. 

Rosencrantz and Guil- 
denstern : 68 1. 

round: 75 139, 113 183, 
139 5. 

rouse : 23 147, 42 8. 

row of the pious chan- 
son: 91 409. 

rub: 106 65. 

rue: 173 162. 

sable silver'd : 32 241. 

sables: 120 113. 

Saint Patrick : 57 136. 

Saint Valentine's day: 
166 46. 

sallets : 93 430. 

salvation: 188 2. 

satirical rogue : 78 196. 

savageness . . . assault : 
63 34-35. 

saws : 54 100. 

's blood: 87 358. 

scholar: 6 42. 



school in Wittenberg : 

22 113. 
sconce: 193 96. 
scrimers : 182 99. 
season : 29 192, 38 81, 

62 28. 
secure : 51 61. 
seen . . . guilty : 63 

43-44. 
seiz'd of : 9 89. 
semblable: 210 117. 
Seneca : 89 390. 
sense: 143 71. 
sensible: 7 57. 
sergeant: 222 326. 
set: 159 61. 
sets a blister there : 

141 44. 
shards: 199 220. 
share: 128 255. 
shark' d up: 10 98. 
shent: 134 371. 
shoon: 165 26. 
short: 153 18. 
shows: 21 82. 
siege : 181 75. 
silence me: 139 4. 
simples: 184 143. 
since no man . . . be- 
times : 215 213-214. 
slander: 41 133. 
sledded : 7 63. 
smote: 7 63. 
so, haply slander: 154 

40. 
so, uncle, etc.: 55 

110. 
so I do still: 130 310. 
softly: 160 8. 
solicited : 223 348. 
solid: 23 129. 
solidity: 142 49. 
sometimes : 6 49. 
sort: 10 109. 
speak (emphasized) : 

30 214. 



special providence . . . 

sparrow: 215 210- 

211. 
speech . . . lines : 98 

527. 
spendthrift sigh: 183 

121. 
sphere : 177 15. 
spring that turneth, 

etc.: 178 20. 
springes : 40 115. 
spurns : 164 6. 
stand me upon: 207 63. 
star : 44 32, 75 41. 
stars . . . spheres : 49 

17. 
start . . . stand: 146 

120. 
station: 143 58. 
statists : 205 33. 
statutes . . . recoveries: 

193 99-100. 
still (always) : 1 1 122, 

70 42. 
stithy : 1 1 8 79. 
stomach: 10 100. 
straight: 139 1, 188 4. 
strike: 14 162. 
stuck: 185 160. 
style of the king's 

speech: 16 16. 
subject (subjects) : 8 

72. 
succession : 87 344. 
supervise (noun) : 205 

23. 
suppliance : 34 9. 
supply and profit : 69 

24. 
sweet (with following 

pause) : 33 8. 
Switzers: 168 79. 
swoopstake : 170 124. 
'swounds: 100 562. 
table : 54 98. 
tables : 54 107. 



234 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 



taint not thy mind: 

53 85. 
take thy fair hour, etc.: 

19 62-63. 
takes (blasts): 14 163. 
tarre : 87 346. 
tax him home: 135 29. 
tax'd of : 43 18. 
tell: 31 237. 
temper'd : 222 318. 
temple: 34 12. 
tenable : 32 247. 
tend: 38 83, 158 44. 
tender: 158 40. 
tenders: 40 106. 
tent: 101 584. 
termagant: 114 12. 
that (conjunctional 

affix): 15 2. 
that (such): 27 171. 
that (that which) : 16 17. 
then... face?: 31 228. 
these: 73 113. 
thews : 34 12. 
thieves of mercy : 176 

18-19. 
thing : 4 21. 
think it no more : 34 10. 
think'st thee : 207 63. 
thirty years : 196 154. 
this from this : 75 156. 
thou gh inclination , e t c . : 

136 39-40. 
thought: 108 85, 174 

168. 
thoughts are ours, etc.: 

124 194. 
thrift: 117 57. 
tickle o' the sere: 84 

318. 
tinct: 144 91. 
'tis common, etc.: 20 

72. 
to (in comparison 

with) : 24 140, 5 1 52, 

105 52. 



to be or not to be, etc. : 

105 56. 
to business: 17 37. 
to note : 60 178. 
to thine own self, etc. : 

38 78-80. 
to thy work : 221 312. 
toil (net): 131 321. 
toils : 8 72. 
too much i' th' sun : 20 

67. 
too too : 23 129. 
top of my bent : 1 33 357. 
topp'd: 181 87. 
toward : 8 77, 224 355. 
toy: 164 18. 
toy in blood: 33 6. 
toys of desperation: 

47 75. 
trick: 163 61. 
trick'd : 94 445. 
tropically: 125 218. 
truepenny: 58 150. 
truly . . . was : 7 1 64. 
trumpet: 13 150. 
tunes: 186 177. 
turn Turk: 127 253. 
twelvefornine:212i62. 
unanel'd: 53 77. 
unbated: 184 137, 221 

307. 
uncharge: 180 66. 
uncurrent gold : 92 417. 
understand in another 

tongue: 211124-125. 
ungracious : 36 47. 
unhousel'd: 53 77. 
unimproved mettle : 9 

90. 
union: 218 262. 
unlimited : 89 390. 
unprevailing : 22 107. 
unproportion'd : 37 60. 
unsifted: 39 102. 
unsmirched: 169 101. 
unyoke : 1 90 50. 



uphoarded: 12136-137. 
upon mine 'honour : 89 

385. 
upon my sword : 5 8 147. 
upon our first: 71 61. 
upshot: 225 374. 
up-spring : 43 9. 
vailed: 20 70. 
valanc'd : 92 413. 
vanquisher (dissyl- 
labic) : 9 93. 
vast: 29 198. 
ventages: 131 331. 
verb agreeing with 

nearest substantive : 

18 38. 
very substance of the 

ambitious : 80 254. 
vice of kings: 145 96. 
violets: 173 164. 
vulgar : 37 61. 
wake : 42 8. 
walk: 14 161. 
wand'ring stars : 200 

245. 
wanton : 220 289. 
wantonness,ignorance : 

111 145. 
warrantise: 199 216. 
wassail: 43 9. 
water-fly: 208 82-83. 
we fools of nature : 46 

54. 
what: 5 33. 
what if this cursed 

hand, etc.: 13643-46. 
wheel: 172 153. 
when . . . blest, etc.: 

149 169-170. 
while the grass grows : 

131 317. 
who (whom) : 78 194. 
why, let the strucken 

deer,etc.:l 27248-251. 
willow: 186 166. 
windlasses : 64 64. 



INDEX 



235 



winking: 74 137. 
with (by) : 29 205. 
with swinish phrase : 

43 19. 
withal ; 35 28, 79 215. 
withdraw with you : 

131 319. 
withers are unwrung : 

125 223. 



within 's: 119 110. 
woman will be out : 

187 189. 
woodcock: 221 296. 
woo't: 201 264. 
would be scann'd: 138 

. 75. 

would be spoke to : 6 45. 
wretch: 76 168. 



Yaughan: 191 57. 
yaw: 210 114. 
ye : 79 225. 
yeoman's service: 206 

36. 
yesty collection: 214 

184. 
Yorick: 197 171. 
your: 111 142. 



